Avengers: Endgame Directors Address Secret Wars: “A Six-Film Series Would Work”

After four films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing Captain America to the present day and then putting Thanos on a collision course with the Avengers, directors Joe and Anthony Russo are ready to move on. From Captain America: The Winter Soldier to Avengers: Endgame, they have painted the broad strokes for the entire franchise. And while they don’t have any future commitments to Marvel Studios for the time being, there is one film they’ve said they want to make.

The classic Marvel crossover event Secret Wars was one of the first of its kind, and many fans have clamored to see that adapted for the big screen. The Russos have said before that they would return to make that movie, but it seems like a long ways away. And at San Diego Comic-Con when they were asked how they would adapt the film, they gave a surprising answer.

ComicBook’s own Megan Peters was on hand for the panel, and described their response thusly:

“They want to say to twist their arms jokingly. Joe says the whole series was read by him in a sitting at 12, and he loved it growing up. Anthony says his run at Marvel was one of the best creative times ever, and they would love to work with the studio again. When asked again about Secret Wars, Joe says a six-film series would work. And asked about the Beyonder; Anthony says they should bring the writers out to talk about Secret Wars.”

It’s unclear if they’re joking about the “six movies” part, but the Russos have teased their desire to adapt Secret Wars for awhile now, going back to last year during an interview while promoting the premiere of Avengers: Infinity War.

“If Disney’s takeover of Fox goes through, there’s a lot more characters to work with all of a sudden, it might be interesting to do something like Secret Wars,” they said.

The original storyline came out in the ’80s and dealt with an omnipotent being named the Beyonder abducting heroes and villains, forcing them to fight on a makeshift planet called Battleworld.

Marvel revived the title in 2015 with a storyline that saw the Multiverse being destroyed by a whole race of Beyonders, only for Dr. Doom to save fragments of each reality and create his own Battleworld where he is king. Though it seems altruistic, his motivations are selfish as he re-writes the history of the Fantastic Four and marries Sue Storm, becoming the father of Franklin and Valeria. Reed and a group of heroes band together to overthrow Doom and rescue the Multiverse.

We’ll see which version the directors decide to adapt if they ever get the chance to return to Marvel Studios.