Russo Brothers on the X-Men Character They're Most Excited to Have in "Avengers: Doomsday" and Their Approach to Doctor Doom

With Avengers: Endgame - Encore now in theaters, the Russo Brothers have been doing the press rounds, and in a new interview, they've given more insight into their portrayal of the X-Men and Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

X-Citing Times:

• Directors Joe and Anthony Russo recently sat down with Fandango for a conversation about the new material in Avengers: Endgame - Encore and what to expect in Avengers: Doomsday when it hits theaters in December.
• One big part of Doomsday fans are hyped about is the inclusion of the X-Men, with several cast members from the old 20th Century Fox X-Men films reprising their roles and coming into contact (and conflict) with MCU superheroes for the first time.
• Discussing their personal thrill about this, Joe Russo told Fandango, "When X-Men came out 25 years ago, we were a lot younger then, and we were fans in movie theaters watching the movies at midnight screenings. So to be able to work with those actors is like a dream come true for us."
• Anthony Russo described bringing back actors like Patrick Stewart as Professor X, James Marsden as Cyclops and Rachel Romijn as Mystique as "Part of the sort of Marvel miracle," noting that in the comics, the Avengers and X-Men could always interact, "and then, as they segued into the cinema, it got divided between different Hollywood studios. We never imagined the day that they could find their way back to one another. So, the fact that we can sort of be the facilitators of that and activate that through this movie, we have to pinch ourselves."

• As for which X-Men they were most excited to tackle, Joe said, "It has to be Ian McKellen, Magneto. One, that's one of our favorite characters. Two, it's Sir Ian McKellen. The fact that we were able to work with him and to see that level of acting up close and personal is spectacular."
• Anthony also said they felt a more recent addition to the cinematic X-Men realm, Channing Tatum as Gambit, "is a real treat," with the brothers referencing the fight scene between Gambit and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) glimpsed in the Doomsday trailer.
• Regarding those big fight scenes between familiar characters, Joe remarked, "That's part of the fun. We're like kids with toys when we start thinking about sequences like that. We literally have toys and go "Well, what would it be? who's most compelling to fight how? What would be the most fun to watch? What do we want to see? What do fans want to see?" And so it's a lot of comic book nerds who all work on the movie together just excited about trying to find a way to bring these things to life for the audience."

Mr. Doomtastic:

• The new footage in Avengers: Endgame - Encore leans into parallels between the late Tony Stark and the character Robert Downey Jr. is now playing in the MCU, Doctor Doom.
• Anthony stressed to Fandango that "Victor Von Doom is his own creation. He's an original character and was fully approached that way by Joe and I and Robert," but added, "It is Robert Downey and he played Iron Man and he's playing Doom. And there's that connection, so we'll see where it goes from there."
• Said Joe, "It's an interesting exploration between good and evil by having Robert play both Stark and Doom. There's a duality to explore there it's interesting to fish around in."

• The brothers said they loved complex villains who had some validity to their actions, even if their tactics are misguided, and promised Doom would be an especially daunting foe.
• Said Joe, "Doom's magic is an ancient magic. He is a very powerful character. He's a genius. He studies his foes. He understands them and he's also well planned. He's not somebody who just does something off the cuff. Everything is meticulous with him. He knows that if he's going to step on a battlefield against somebody that he has to have the tactical advantage or a power advantage against that person. So he's very difficult to beat."
• Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.