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Positive Rumblings Continue to Surface about Marvel Studios’ Next Avengers Film
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2023 was a tough year for Marvel Studios. Between the poor performance of a poor movie (Ant-Man and The Wasp:  Quantumania), the poor performance of a better movie (The Marvels) and an abomination of a streaming series that doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities (Secret Invasion), the studio’s once sterling reputation for churning out quality projects took a hit. With the ground beneath their Multiverse Saga already a bit shaky, news broke that Jonathan Majors, who had signed on as the saga’s big bad, was accused of assault and harassment of his girlfriend. Majors was later convicted of those charges and fired by the studio. Publicly, 2023 was an all-around bad look for the studio.

Things weren’t much better behind the scenes either. Several projects in development came under intense scrutiny as the aforementioned projects didn’t land with the usual fanfare. Notably, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty lost its writer, Jeff Loveness, its director, Destin Daniel Cretton, and its subtitle. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron, who was already working on Avengers: Secret Wars, took over writing duties on Avengers 5 but as nonword emerged on a mew director, fama began to wonder just how big of a mess there was to clean up and if the film would make its 2026 release date. 2023 was a rough year but as the spring of 2024 arrives, so does some hope for the project.

According to reliable scoopers Jeff “The In” Sneider and Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios is currently searching for a director for Avengers 5. More promising is that the studio is reportedly planning to start principal photography on the project in early 2025 with an eye on making the May 1, 2026 release date.

While no names were shared by either insider, Sneider’s report came with the addendum that he’s heard the studio is seeking a director with whom they haven’t worked before. If accurate, that means names like Ryan Coogler, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, or even Sam Raimi, aren’t going to land the gig. It also means Joe and Anthony Russo, who sheparded the studio through the back half of the Infinity Saga, probably aren’t coming back to save the day.

Even without a solid idea of who might be helming the film, moving ahead with the search likely means Waldron’s work on the script for Avengers 5 has been progressing well. If so, names of potential directors will certainly begin to emerge over the weeks and months ahead as the studio will look to pair Waldron with someone with a similar creative vision, allowing them to get to work on revising the script and preparing for production.

This article first appeared on Murphy's Multiverse and was syndicated with permission.

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