Anthony Russo and Joe Russo are the pair of directors who have created some of the most iconic Marvel films to this day. The minds responsible for masterpieces are like Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and Captain America: Civil War, some of the most significant films in the entirety of the franchise. There is a reason why so much trust is put in the hands of the Russo brothers, considering the first project that they were part of the franchise, is one of the most iconic, memorable, and what many fans might call, the best film to come out of the MCU, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
This film in particular, is adored by the majority of the fandom for many reasons, including the characters, with one of the most interesting ‘villains’ to come out of the franchise, the Winter Soldier, appearing here for the first time, as well as it’s excellent fight sequences and fantastic cinematography. Being as significant as it is, it is interesting to find out that the Russo Brothers were almost not hired for this job. This would also mean, that the two films in the franchise that made the biggest impact on its future storylines, would have been directed by someone else as well.
Marvel Was Looking For A New Director After First Avenger
The book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios has become the talk of the town because of just how much behind-the-scenes information it has been releasing about one of the biggest franchises of all time. Amongst this was an interesting fact about the director of Captain America: First Avenger, Joe Johnston. It was revealed by this book that the director, being a visual effects designer at heart, difficult to work on set like that of Marvel projects. This was so stressful for him, that he had a special, secret room created on the set of the film, where he would when shooting got too stressful for him.
“He wanted a director for the sequel who would be more available to Marvel Studios producers than Joe “Secret Room” Johnston had been. And for Phase Two of the MCU, he was searching for directors who were comfortable with the emergent Marvel method, which entailed close collaboration with Marvel’s in-house visual departments. Feige, described as a “vibe guy,” liked to have open-ended meetings with directors to feel them out before discussing any particular project.”
Upon learning about this, it was revealed by the book, that Kevin and Marvel Studios in general, were looking for a director who would be more available to Marvel studio producers compared to Johnston. What he meant by this was someone who would be willing to go hand-in-hand with Marvel’s methods of close collaboration with in-house departments as well as someone who would not mind having open-ended meetings with the studios before discussing a specific project. Hence came the search for the director of their next big project, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Joe and Anthony Russo Had Some Competition
It was revealed in MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, that there were three possible candidates for this position. The first person who could potentially direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was George Nolfi. He was best known for his work in projects like Ocean’s Twelve, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Adjustment Bureau. At the time, he had an excellent reputation as a writer-director, and his style of filmmaking would have fit quite well with that of Marvel’s.
“He narrowed his list down to three candidates for the Captain America sequel: George Nolfi, the writer-director of The Adjustment Bureau; F. Gary Gray, a music-video director who had made the transition to features such as Friday, The Negotiator and The Italian Job; and the brothers Joe and Anthony Russo.”
Another candidate for this job was F. Gary Gray. It can be said that if it wasn’t for the Russo Brothers, he would have been the perfect fit for this job, with his style of direction being perfect for the type of films that Marvel makes, having been part of projects like The Italian Job, Men in Black: International, and Law Abiding Citizen. The last candidates for this job were, of course, Joe and Anthony Russo, who ended up getting chosen for this job, helping the studio, create the masterpieces that it is known for now.
Also Read: ‘Kevin Feige Has Put X-Men Aside’: Joe & Anthony Russo Hint X-Men Were Never MCU’s Priority
