The duo previously directed four Marvel films including “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”

Marvel‘s lengthy search for the directors of its next two “Avengers” movies might have finally reached its endgame.

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety say that Joe and Anthony Russo have entered talks with the studio to direct the next two films in the franchise. Marvel had previously announced that the studio’s Phase 6 slate of films would end with the movies “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” in 2026 and “Avengers: Secret Wars” in 2027. The former film was supposed to focus on Jonathan Majors’ villainous character Kang the Conqueror, who appeared in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and five episodes of “Loki” and was being positioned as the primary antagonist in subsequent story arcs. Marvel parted ways with Majors following the guilty verdict in his assault and harassment trial in December 2023, but has yet to comment on whether the role will be recast or if the next “Avengers” film will still be titled “The Kang Dynasty.”

“The Kang Dynasty” was originally set to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who departed the project in late 2023 and subsequently signed on to direct a live-action “Naruto” movie for Lionsgate.

But whatever creative direction the studio takes, the two Avengers films could end up in the hands of two of its most reliable filmmakers. The Russo brothers, primarily known for directing TV episodes at the time, made their Marvel debut directing the 2014 hit “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” They returned to direct three of the biggest films in the franchise’s history: 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” and 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”

The record-breaking “Endgame” served as a final curtain call for many beloved Marvel characters, including Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America, and served as a franchise reset that prompted Marvel to shift its focus to newer characters. The Russos also saw it as a natural break with Marvel, though they did not rule out returning to the MCU down the road. “

We’re always talking; we’d need to see what would work,” Joe Russo said in a 2022 interview with Variety. “We won’t be ready to do anything with Marvel until the end of the decade.”

In the five years since “Endgame,” the Russos have directed the Tom Holland-led film “Cherry” for Apple and the Ryan Gosling tentpole “The Gray Man” for Netflix. They also launched the independent studio ABGO, through which they have produced shows like Amazon’s “Citadel” and announced plans to develop new AI technologies.

Marvel’s theatrical and streaming output has yielded mixed results since “Endgame.” While films like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” showed that there is still a large audience for superhero movies (with this month’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” expected to do huge business as well), critical and commercial flops such as 2023’s “The Marvels” have prompted many to speculate that the brand has lost its once-ironclad grip on pop culture.

If Marvel wants to turn its next two “Avengers” movies into massive cultural events that rival the last two, it’s not hard to see why Kevin Feige would turn to the men who directed them.