Christopher Markus, the co-writer of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, reveals why he won’t be writing Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars.
According to Markus, he won’t be returning to Marvel to write Doomsday or Secret Wars due to his commitments with the Russo brothers’ AGBO. He said, “You don’t Avenge part-time, you don’t do anything Marvel part-time. That is a years-long commitment.”
The Russo Brothers, along with Markus and Stephen McFeely, operate under their production company, AGBO, which has produced projects like The Gray Man, Extraction, and The Electric State. They are the same team behind Marvel blockbusters such as Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Captain America: Civil War.
In an interview with The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast, Markus said he couldn’t return to write Doomsday and Secret Wars because of his work with AGBO. He explained that Marvel movies need a full-time, years-long commitment, which he couldn’t take on right now. After leaving Marvel to focus on AGBO, the Russo Brothers and Stephen McFeely returned to write and direct Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). However, Markus chose not to return, making fans wonder why the whole team wasn’t back.
Markus said, “Look, I need to grow these plants, or they’re going to die.” He added, “[Marvel] is extremely full-time. So, I just said, ‘Let’s make sure everyone understands that this is what I’m doing because [those movies] need a brain behind them. They need a guide, and I love them.’
So, when it came time to Avenge—I mean, you don’t Avenge part-time. You don’t do anything Marvel part-time. That is a years-long commitment.”
Markus commented on Robert Downey Jr. playing Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday:
“That’s a very clever idea, but it’s a lot of work. I have nothing against work, but that’s also work I’ve already done—not necessarily with Doctor Doom, but you know, you can’t have it all.”
In a recent interview with Collider, the Russo Brothers confirmed that Avengers: Doomsday will be a massive film, and Avengers: Secret Wars will be even bigger, adapting a major crossover comic. They said the runtimes will be similar to Infinity War and Endgame.
In Avengers: Doomsday, Downey Jr. will play the role of Doctor Doom, Chris Evans as an Nomad, Tom Holland as Spider-Man, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Wonder Man, Dafne Keen as Laura Kinney/X-23 and Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast, and Channing Tatum as Gambit.
Produced by Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Russo Brothers will produce through their AGBO banner.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars will come out on May 7, 2027.
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