'Avengers: Endgame' director wants a specific take on Doctor Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the Disney-Fox deal could complicate it

Fox

Julian McMahon played Doctor Doom in Fox's "Fantastic Four" movie in 2005.

• Joe Russo, co-director of "Avengers: Endgame," said that he wants to see "Fargo" and "Legion" creator Noah Hawley's take on Doctor Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Hawley is developing a Doctor Doom movie for Fox, but the Disney-Fox merger could disrupt that.

Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of April's "Avengers: Endgame," have introduced some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most popular characters, including Black Panther and Spider-Man. But as this era of the MCU faces a conclusion with "Endgame," even more characters will have to carry the franchise into the future.

While talking to Business Insider last week, Joe said that he wanted to see Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom in the MCU, specifically "Fargo" and "Legion" creator Noah Hawley's take.

READ MORE: 'Avengers: Endgame' directors on dealing with sky-high expectations, and which characters they want to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe

"I'd love to see Noah's interpretation of that character," Joe said. "Anything that Noah does."

Hawley is developing a solo Doctor Doom movie for Fox, but Hawley told Business Insider in June that there was "some uncertainty" about the movie's future because of the Disney-Fox merger.

"I think the question now revolves around the merger of Fox and Disney and whether that happens, and what would happen to all those Marvel projects once it does," Hawley said. "There is some uncertainty there. I think the film studio [Fox] would like to move quickly and make the movie, that's my hope. Now we're just talking about how and when we are going to do that."

Since then, Disney acquired Fox for $71.3 billion, and the deal is expected to close in early 2019. Once it closes, Disney will own Fox's Marvel assets, including the X-Men, Deadpool, Fantastic Four, and Doctor Doom. It's unknown how or when those characters would be introduced in the MCU, but the merger could complicate Hawley's movie.

READ MORE: The 'Avengers: Endgame' directors think the Oscars are disconnected from audiences, and need a 'change in perspective'

Joe said that the Russos have talked about Hawley's Doctor Doom movie "in passing," but added, "Who knows what's going to happen with everything with the Disney acquisition."

The Russos are developing a drama series for FX with Hawley called "The Mastermind," and said they are "in the process of working on the script right now."

"It's loosely based on true events about a criminal in South Africa who built an international crime syndicate using the internet," Joe said.