The Russo brothers have come a long way from comedies like Arrested Development and Community. They started their film career with smaller-scale movies such as You, Me, and Dupree and skyrocketed to mega-blockbuster films with Avengers movies, Infinity War and Endgame. Now they’re branching off from superhero films to action movies like the latest Netflix star-studded film, The Gray Man, and the upcoming The Electric State.
The director siblings have recently sat down and talked with Variety about their relationship with Marvel as well as their newest partnership with Netflix. In August, when Warner Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, cryptically cited The Gray Man as an example of how big budget tentpole movies are don’t make financial sense for streaming services to justify canceling Batgirl, the Russos were asked about their reaction to the whole situation.
Joe Russo comments,
It’s rare that I can think of something that high profile, that expensive, that was murdered in such a way. It’s sad, but we’re at a time in the business where corporate sociopathy is going to rear its head because people are scared.”
Warner Discovery’s Zaslav’s controversial decisions have been the subject of scrutiny amongst fans who will be missing out on projects jettisoned by the new CEO amid the company merger. Zaslav additionally cancelled a Scooby Doo project and has been silently pulling titles from the popular streaming network, HBO Max.
The Russos have been responsible for two of the biggest theater films of the past few years, but they aren’t worried about Zaslav’s perspective. Joe adds, “I’ve got four kids, so I can identify Gen Z’s habits pretty accurately. They don’t have the same emotional connection to watching things in a theater.”
The Russos have been working with Marvel since 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and since then, they have been Marvel’s go-to guys with their biggest crossover event films with the last two Avengers. Marvel has been well-received with outlining a plan for their future releases ahead of time, finding a way to tie them all together. Meanwhile, WB and DC have been heavily criticized for not being able to stick to a singular vision when they appointed Zack Snyder to head up their universe and bailed on him when his first two films were met with sub-optimal reactions.
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