Disney's Magical Marvel Weekend: Robert Downey Jr., Russo Brothers Steal Comic Con Spotlight As 'Deadpool & Wolverine' Breaks Records

Media giant The Walt Disney Company DIS made it a magical weekend for movie fans of superheroes with several exciting announcements at San Diego Comic Con and the theatrical release of "Deadpool & Wolverine," which broke several records.

What Happened: The highly anticipated "Deadpool & Wolverine" smashed box office records for a "R" rated movie both domestically and globally, as many predicted given the success of the first two "Deadpool" films and the inclusion of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

The movie opened with $438.3 million in box office globally, including $205 million domestically. The totals rank the film as the highest "R"-rated movie opening. "Deadpool & Wolverine" also helped power results for Imax and AMC and could help drive a positive result for movie theaters in the second half of 2024.

What’s Next For Marvel? The company celebrated "Deadpool & Wolverine" at Comic Con with panels featuring the film's stars, but it was upcoming films that stole the spotlight.

Disney's Marvel Studios unit announced the Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joe Russo) will be returning to direct "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars," which are the fifth and sixth Avengers films, respectively. The duo has directed several Marvel movies before.

The villain in the upcoming Marvel movies will be Doctor Doom. In a surprising turn of events, Marvel revealed that Robert Downey Jr. will play the role.

"New mask, same task," Downey. said onstage. "What can I tell you? I like playing complicated characters."

Downey famously played Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and now transitions to playing the main villain in several upcoming Marvel movies.

Joe Russo praised Downey "as the greatest actor in the world" and the person needed to play the Doctor Doom character.

"As proof of the unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multiverse, we give you the one person who could play Victor Von Doom," Russo said before Downey was brought onstage.

The portrayal of a Marvel villain by the former superhero actor has drawn mixed reviews from movie fans, but has generated significant buzz for the upcoming Avengers films.

While Downey will be best remembered for playing Iron Man, he was almost cast as Doctor Doom in 2005's "Fantastic Four" film, according to a Variety report.

Read Also: ‘Inside Out 2,’ ‘Moana 2,’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’: Can These 3 Movies Bring Back Disney’s Box Office Billions?

Why It's Important: The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grossed nearly $12 billion domestically and passed $30 billion globally, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Marvel is betting on the Russo brothers to generate more box office success along the way. The duo were directors on four previous Marvel films. Here's a look at those movies and their box office takes, with figures from BoxOfficeMojo:

• "Captain America: The Winter Soldier": $259.8 million domestically, $714.4 million worldwide
• "Captain America: Civil War": $408.1 million domestically, $1.16 billion worldwide
• "Avengers: Infinity War": $678.8 million domestically, $2.05 billion worldwide
• "Avengers: Endgame": $858.4 million domestically, $2.8 billion worldwide

Here's a look at the rankings domestically and worldwide for those four Marvel movies:

• "Captain America: The Winter Soldier": 137^th domestically, 134^th globally
• "Captain America: Civil War": 41^st domestically, 28^th globally
• "Avengers: Infinity War": 8^th domestically, 6^th globally
• "Avengers: Endgame": 2^nd domestically, 2^nd globally

The Russo Brothers have two of the top 10 grossing movies and three of the top 50 grossing movies domestically and globally with their work under the Marvel Cinematic Universe umbrella.

"Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars" are set for May 2026 and May 2027 releases, respectively.

Several Marvel movies also shown off at Comic Con will reach theaters first. Marvel highlighted "Captain America: Brave New World," "Thunderbolts" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," which are set for releases in February 2025, May 2025 and July 2025, respectively.

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