The dethroned champs conceded with class, and maybe a message.
Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors whose Avengers: Endgame just watched its seven-year record fall, took to Instagram to congratulate the Spider-Man: Brand New Day team on making domestic box office opening weekend history at $360 million.
The post salutes director Destin Daniel Cretton by name, runs through the cast, and shouts out producers Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, Avi Arad, and Rachel O’Connor, before landing the sign-off: “The gauntlet has been passed.”
The accompanying BossLogic artwork makes the pun literal.
Spidey poses in a gilded portrait frame, draped in the American flag and cobwebs, wearing six championship rings colored like the Infinity Stones, the gauntlet reimagined as jewelry for the new record holder.
The post cleared 510,000 likes in a day, with Cretton replying with hearts.
Wait, Florence And Marisa?
Read that cast list again, because the Russos name more names than Sony’s official materials ever did: Tom, Zendaya, Jacob, Jon, Mark, Sadie, Florence, Michael, and Marisa.
Florence and Marisa. As in Florence Pugh and Marisa Tomei.
Consider this the Russos casually confirming what audiences discovered in theaters, and what Kevin Feige was winking at when he teased Yelena showing up “a little bit sooner” than Doomsday. For everything the movie’s ending sets up, the full SPOILER breakdown is here.
The Chess Piece Might Be The Real Message
Then there’s the detail fans zeroed in on: Spidey is clutching a lone chess king, and eagle-eyed commenters immediately connected it to the Avengers: Doomsday chess imagery CBN readers already know well, the chess art Robert Downey Jr. himself shared that nails the plot leak, featuring a board with a lone piece standing and a spider crawling across it.
Remember who posted this.
The Russos are the men currently directing the movie that will try to take the crown back in December, built around cinema’s most famous chess enthusiast, Doctor Doom.
RDJ teases the board, the Russos hand Spidey the king, and none of it reads like coincidence. A congratulations post that doubles as a tease is exactly their style.
It also completes the congratulations parade: first Disney’s CEO told investors the success bodes well for Doomsday, and now Doomsday‘s own directors are passing the gauntlet in public.
They’re congratulating a runaway train. As of Tuesday, Brand New Day sits at $1.155 billion worldwide with $449.2 million domestic, 2026’s highest-grossing movie after the biggest Tuesday in history and the second-fastest billion ever.
The rematch arrives December 18, but before that, Avengers: Endgame hits theaters in September with new Doomsday footage.
Follow both corners at our Avengers: Doomsday hub and the Spider-Man: Brand New Day guide.
