The Russo Brothers Have a Good Idea What 'Avengers: Doomsday' and 'Secret Wars' Runtimes Will Be

Doomsday is fast approaching for the MCU as its 2025 releases continue to pass. After Captain America: Brave New World gave Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) his first solo big-screen adventure on Valentine's Day, only two more movies remain until Anthony and Joe Russo return to deliver another blockbuster crossover after their success with Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. The Doctor Doom-centric cinematic event remains shrouded in mystery ahead of filming this April, but the two directors have been able to shed some light on one key aspect of the production — its runtime. Speaking to Collider's Steve Weintraub for their upcoming film The Electric State, the duo teased how long Doomsday and its equally massive follow-up Secret Wars, which will be shot next summer, will keep audiences in theaters.

For some context, the last time the directors played in the Marvel sandbox, they delivered, by a considerable margin, the longest MCU film to date, with Endgame clocking in at a whopping 182 minutes. It made the most of that time though. Considering all it had to accomplish between wrapping up countless storylines, reversing Thanos's population-halving snap, and setting up the future, greater length was needed to do everything justice. Doomsday, similarly, will offer what the brothers have teased is a "radical" storyline revolving around Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and involving the new Fantastic Four — Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon-Moss Bachrach — potentially Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and likely Wilson, among others. Chris Evans has also been heavily rumored to return in some capacity, even if he's insisting he's not involved.

Even if plot details have yet to be revealed, it's clear that Doomsday alone will be massive. Secret Wars, then, should have even more on its plate as a direct continuation and an adaptation of a bonkers crossover comic that unites heroes and villains old and new for an epic clash. Though they can't confirm exactly how long the two films will be once the rubber meets the road, the Russos are fairly certain the runtimes will look very similar to Infinity War and Endgame given the similar pattern. "If I were a betting man, I would say the first one is two and a half, and the second one's three hours."

'Doomsday' and 'Secret Wars' Aren't Aiming to Repeat 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame'

Creatively, Doomsday reunites the Russos with their regular Avengers writing partner Stephen McFeely, though notably not fellow contributor Christopher Markus. Regardless of who's involved, the climactic end to the Multiverse saga is shaping up as something unique from their last pair of capstone blockbusters. The road has been bumpy to get here between the upheaval of The Kang Dynasty and a mix of polarizing films and series that have left fans feeling fatigued, but the team appears up to the task of tying the past six-plus years of stories together into a major event. McFeely, for one, has been adamant that they're ensuring not to betray what's come before in the MCU as they welcome Downey Jr. back as Victor Von Doom. Nobody on the team plans to show their hand early though, as when asked about when casting and character news could be coming, Joe Russo teased, "Never. Not until you go to the theater."

When Weintraub brought up the concern of paparazzi taking set pictures, the Russo brothers explained that they've already planned for that. "We’re pretty good about shutting that down," explained Joe. Anthony followed up saying, "We've sort of strategized to hopefully be effective with that." While Weintraub noted that it sounds as if much of the movie will be filmed on soundstages, Joe Russo confirmed they'll be "doing quite a bit of that," saying, "We don’t want people getting photographs, so we are being pretty stringent." However, Anthony explained that they've also chosen their filming locations very intentionally, explaining, "The location work we are doing, we have picked those locations with that in mind, as well."

The Russos are currently setting up in London for what will be "a standard-length shoot" according to Anthony. "So, six months for each of them," Joe confirmed. Avengers: Doomsday leads off in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Secret Wars nearly one year later on May 7, 2027. Stay tuned here at Collider for more updates on the Russo Brothers' blockbuster return as the dates near.