The sibling helmers behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Anthony and Joe Russo, have inked a three-year first look deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment. The news stems from The Wrap, which reveals that the brothers’ contract with the studio will commence in April. Will it include that long-discussed Spider-Man spinoff? They won’t say, but they are rather enthusiastic about joining forces with the studio:
“We’re thrilled to make a home at Sony Pictures, and to be partnering with the entire team. The studio has created an environment that is not only collaborative, but truly filmmaker-friendly and we’re excited to begin developing both new and ambitious material with them.”
Currently, the Russos are in pre-production on Captain America: Civil War, which set to arrive on May 6, 2016, and is expected to include an appearance from Spider-Man. The webhead’s involvement emerged after Sony and Marvel struck a deal to collaborate on a new iteration of the superhero, who is poised to appear in Cap’s third outing, followed by his own rebooted spinoff in 2017.
Bearing in mind the Russos have established a rapport with Marvel, this new development almost certainly wipes out all likelihood of the pair taking over directorial duties on future Avengers movies from Joss Whedon. In light of yesterday’s news, which revealed that Sony are eyeballing Drew Goddard to helm the Spider-Man spinoff, it seems that the Russos could now be sitting on a shortlist alongside him.