Fanstasic Four director speaks on 'passing the baton' to Russo brothers for Avengers: Doomsday

The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman is ready to "pass the baton" to the Joe and Anthony Russo for Avengers: Doomsday.

The 49-year-old filmmaker – who helmed the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie – revealed the directing duo had visited the set of The Fantastic Four: First Steps to get a feel of the titular family for their 2026 blockbuster.

Speaking with Deadline, Shakman said of the Russo brothers: "They were very curious about what we were doing - they came to tour our sets, they would watch scenes that we were cutting together.

"They wanted to get to know these people as they were working on their story and their script, so that I could pass the baton to them and these characters would be well cared for."

The Fantastic Four: First Steps – which stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing – follows the titular family as they gain extraordinary powers after a cosmic accident during their exploration of outer space.

As they grapple with their new identities, the Fantastic Four must unite to stop the rising threat of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), who is hell-bent on destroying the destroy Earth.

While he has "no idea" what Marvel boss Kevin Feige has in store for fans with Avengers: Doomsday, Ineson insisted he would "of course" team up with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom in the MCU if he was given the chance.

He said: "I have no idea what Kevin Feige and everybody have planned, but I worked with Robert a few years ago on Dolittle for a few days, and he’s an absolute gentleman and amazing actor, so I loved having the chance to work with him and watch him work.

"So, yeah, if I got the chance to team up with him again, of course I would."

As well as the Fantastic Four, Avengers: Doomsday will see the return of X-Men stars like Sir Ian McKellen's Magneto, Sir Patrick Stewart's Professor X, James Marsden's Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, Kelsey Grammer's Beast and Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler.

Other cast members for the movie include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as James 'Bucky' Barnes, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova.

While exact plot details about Avengers: Doomsday are being kept under wraps, the film – which is slated to hit cinemas on December 18, 2026 – will likely see the Avengers, the New Avengers, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four team up to stop Doctor Doom from carrying out his catastrophic plans for the Multiverse.

With production on the movie currently underway, Feige revealed Avengers: Doomday's script is being tinkered with on set.

He said at a recent press event: " There's plus-ing happening every day on the Avengers: Doomsday set right now, and it is amazing to watch because what those filmmakers, those actors, both the ones that are playing these characters for the first or second time and the one playing them for the 10th or 12th time, are the best in the world at it, and know these characters so well.

"So if they have an idea, you want to listen to it and you want to adjust to it and you want to improve it. I wouldn't want to change that."