Having directed four of the modern era’s greatest action movies, Chad Stahelski is regularly named at the top of the wish-list when people are asked to name their dream filmmakers for any Marvel Cinematic Universe project.
What a lot of them may not realize, though, is that the former stunt performer and set piece choreographer already has a long and illustrious history with the comic book company’s live-action adaptations, so he’s already got a pretty good handle on how things work behind the scenes.
At various points throughout his career in a multitude of capacities, Stahelski has worked on Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Iron Man 2, The Wolverine, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Deadpool 2, and Captain America: Civil War, so it’s not as if he’d be a complete newbie to how blockbuster superhero stories work.
And yet, in an interview with The Direct, Stahelski admitted that he’s not as interested in diving into that sandbox as he would have been even as recently as a couple of years ago.
“Maybe, even up to four or five years ago, I would have pretty much taken that shot, I think. Now, I’ve kind of hopefully evolved as a filmmaker. I don’t know. I feel comfortable in creating things. I feel comfortable working with other people to try and build something. Look, what I’m saying is there’s great IP out there there are people already doing it. You know? I’m gonna swing for the cheap seats over here. I’m gonna go big and try to make our own stuff. Someone’s got to keep trying to get some new IP in the game. I think I’m gonna go try that for a little while.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen, but you get the sneaking suspicion that Stahelski’s talents may be better suited to DC than the fairly formulaic MCU. The Brave and the Bold, anyone?