With Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame being such box office successes, many fans assumed that the Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joe Russo) would return to direct Avengers: Secret Wars. But in the years that followed, a lot changed.
During that period, the Russo Brothers helmed a few flicks through their AGBO company. Among them are the crime drama Cherry, starring Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo, and the action thriller The Gray Man, featuring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.
Some people conjectured that the brothers might choose to return to Marvel following The Gray Man’s failure and Cherry’s comparatively unimpressive reception. However, in a recent interview, Anthony and Joe Russo stated adamantly that they are ready to move on from playing in someone’s franchise sandbox and instead focus on developing their own original franchises.
Russo Brothers’ Plan to Forge Their ‘Own Star Wars’ Universe
Who would not be excited about the idea of new stories imbued with the creativity and fervor that once catapulted the Marvel universe to unprecedented heights? Indeed, the Russo Brothers have expressed a compelling ethos: a dedication to creating their own original franchises, intending to rival the cultural phenomenon that is Star Wars itself.
The directors made it clear in a recent interview with Games Radar that they would much rather build their own franchises than play in other people’s. When questioned about Kevin Feige, who supposedly wanted to make his own Star Wars film, possibly with the Russos at the helm, the brothers essentially restated their original ABGO plan.
The plan called for creating their own original properties and franchises that are reminiscent of “Star Wars”.
“The intention is that we want to build our own ‘Star Wars’. For us, it’s all about the focus on original storytelling and new ideas. If anything, there’s been too much. I mean, I think you could argue we’re in a rut of repetitive storytelling and potential franchise abuse. So, at a certain point, I think the audience is craving new ideas and new stories. And that’s where all of our focus is going post-Marvel—asking, ‘What are those new stories?’”
The Russo Brothers have long been recognized for their contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame). However, with their upcoming projects, they are setting their sights on creating their “own Star Wars” – a move that can draw comparisons to Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon.
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon and Its Star Wars Connection
Before Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 (see THR), Snyder had even approached Kathleen Kennedy, the head of Lucasfilm, about his idea for a trilogy. In an interview with IGN, the director reflected on that pitch:
“In a lot of ways it’s better for the movie that I ended up having to do it outside of the Star Wars universe because I think that there’s a lot of rules that I would’ve had to have broken of Star Wars canon.”
However, Snyder claimed that until he finally sat down to write the first screenplay, he was unaware of just how much his saga deviated from the family-friendly conventions of Star Wars:
“There was never a script, it was always just a pitch and I was just a big Star Wars fanatic. It wasn’t necessarily a certain thing I wanted to see in this sort of Star Wars universe, but it was more that I just loved the iconography.”
Regretfully, the film had an unimpressive Rotten Tomatoes score with just a 21% approval rating. According to The Guardian, “some professors in film school use the familiar example of Star Wars to teach Campbellian mythmaking, the theories that identify and codify the narrative units re-contextualized since Grecian times”.
Regardless, despite what might seem to indicate otherwise, Snyder’s Rebel Moon is not a copy of Lucas’ Star Wars. As opposed to that, the same source served as a major inspiration.
You can watch Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire on Netflix.
