For a filmmaker, what could be bigger than having not one but TWO flicks on the top five highest grossing movies of all-time list? Joe and Anthony Russo accomplished the feat that only one other (James Cameron) has conquered in the past. So, what do you do for a follow-up?
The two brothers recently produced and released a movie titled Mosul under their newly created AGBO Films banner. The movie just screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the brothers Russo were on hand to answer questions about the film. Naturally, the topic eventually turned toward their Marvel movies.
The Russo Brothers, who were previously known for directing television comedies such as Arrested Development and Community, got their big screen comicbook start with 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The film had a much grittier and realistic approach to story and action than audiences had previously seen in the MCU.
They quickly graduated to the sequel, Captain America: Civil War (2016), where they met most of the other Avengers and introduced them to their style of filmmaking. Not long after, it was announced that they would be taking over the helm of the Avengers ship to bring home the epic conclusion of phase 3 with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
You would think with such a huge portion of their careers (and lives) dedicated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that they would want to take a bow and move on. But at TIFF they teased a possible return to Marvel Studios during an interview with Syfy Wire.
When asked if there were any Marvel characters that could bring them back to the House of Ideas, the two immediately answered the X-Men and Fantastic Four, both of which have recently been brought back under the Marvel banner with the Fox merger.
Joe Russo spoke up, saying:
“I grew up on [John] Byrne’s X-Men run. Ben Grimm was a favorite character growing up, the Thing. And Fantastic Four is now in the Marvel fold. There’s a lot. Silver Surfer is an amazing character. Going really big in cosmic would be a lot of fun. So, there’s a lot of things that could attract us.”
Joe continued, elaborating on the satisfying creative journey their Marvel Studios experience has been:
“I think after you go on the journey that we went on — because there is a comprehensive narrative, an overarching story from Winter Soldier all the way to the end of Endgame that involves Tony and Cap, through Civil War, through Infinity War — I think that scale of ambition in storytelling is a bug that’s bit us. And we’re compelled to tell more stories on that scale, with that sort of years-long ambition to them.”
Joe ended the conversation on a high note:
“I mean, look, working with Kevin [Feige] and Louis D’Esposito and Victoria Alonzo (sic) has been the most rewarding collaboration we’ve had in our entire career. They’re like family to us now. We’re all very, very close to one another, and we miss each other. So, I’m sure we’ll find something that we can do together soon.”
After the massive scale storytelling skills the two displayed with Infinity War and Endgame, here’s to hoping the Russo Brothers find another perfect project in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As fans, we’ll all be better off for it. Excelsior!