Joe and Anthony Russo are responsible for the conclusion of one of the most ambitious cinematic projects in history: Avengers Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. So it was no surprise that the anticipation surrounding their panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Com was huge.
If anybody thought that the duo who are also responsible for the cult shows Arrested Development and Community would take a break after Endgame, they were so wrong.
The Russos revealed several upcoming projects, many of them in collaboration with MCU actors. I’m going to list them in dot points, because there are literally so many that it would be wordy and awkward to try and put them in a paragraph.
- Production for their next film Cherry, starring Tom Holland, will commence in October. It is an adaptation of 2018 novel by Nico Walker, who grew up in the same area as them, and follows an Iraqi veteran who comes home addicted to opioids.
- They have produced a movie called Dhaka, alongside Chris Hemsworth, about a mercenary who is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of a Bangladeshi businessman.
- They are producing a new version of classic heist film The Thomas Crown Affair, which will star Michael. B Jordan. Jordan starring in the remake has been on the cards for several years now, and with the Russo’s on board it looks like we can expect it very soon.
- They released the trailer for their upcoming film 21 Bridges starring Chadwick Boseman, which comes out on October 24.
- They are producing and possibly directing a version of Battle of the Planets (a westernised version of Japanese anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman), which follows five young orphans trained from a young age to form an intergalactic team.
- They will be producing a film adaptation of the comic book GrimJack.
- The brothers are Executive Producers of Netflix’s Magic: The Gathering series.
In addition to the announcement of this extensive list, the Russos revealed some tantalising details about the process of working in the MCU. Apparently Anthony Mackie and Mark Ruffalo would laugh the most on set and ultimately ruining the most takes, while Scarlett Johansson was the most likely to nail the most takes in the first try. They also revealed that Infinity War was the most stressful of the three moves to direct, as conceptualising and realising the ‘dusting’ of half the universe was very difficult for them, and the special effects were difficult to get right.
Several of the Avengers sent in video questions, with Chris Evans asking what Captain America did after he returned the Infinity Stones. After first joking that he would “go to the bathroom”, they said that he would have tried to have a child with Peggy, which leaves us wondering…did they succeed???
The duo also noted that they would not rule out working with the MCU in the future, “we would love to work with Marvel again”. One thing’s for sure, though, after the success of Endgame, they can do whatever they want, and it will probably be excellent.
