Until Jon Watts calls action on Fantastic Four, which might not be as soon as fans will be hoping when he’s got another project lined up with A-listers Brad Pitt and George Clooney, Joe and Anthony Russo remain the only directors to have helmed four installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The duo behind You, Me and Dupree were hardly the obvious candidates to board a blockbuster superhero franchise, but it would be an understatement to say they acquitted themselves very well with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
However, new book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe via ComicBook reveals that the siblings almost walked away from the MCU altogether after creative disagreements stifled development on sequel Civil War.
“We reached a point where we said, out loud in a room, ‘We’re not interested in continuing as directors of this movie if it is going to be about managing politics and a third act,”. Anthony chimes in, “And I think Kevin was very energized by that. And also, maybe it gave him some leverage in the situation, because we were so clear about our point of view.”
Marvel’s infamous creative committee wanted to veto the idea of infighting among the Avengers to focus on a formulaic third act showdown between the heroes and Baron Zemo’s army of super soldiers instead, but the Russos and Kevin Feige ended up coming out on top.
In fact, it’s believed that Captain America: Civil War was the catalyst for abolishing the brain trust altogether and handing Feige complete oversight of the MCU, which turned out to be a decision as shrewd as it was smart.