Russo Brothers Tackling Non-Marvel Projects and Setting Up Studio After Avengers 4

With the release of Avengers: Infinity War, the Russo brothers — Anthony and Joe — have become the MCU’s longest-serving directors with three entries in the franchise, having previously played around in Kevin Feige’s sandbox in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War. But once the still-untitled Avengers 4 is released (it was shot back-to-back with Infinity War) the pair will be moving away from the Marvel fold — for now, at least.

Speaking on the Empire Podcast, the duo outlined their future projects which will come from their self-described ‘progressive film studio’ AGBO, with plenty of productions already a go. “We're working with The Daniels on their next movie after Swiss Army Man,” they confirmed, adding: “we're working with Matthew Carnahan on an incredible film, a very powerful emotional story. It's a first-time directing, but he's an amazing writer."

They’re also working on a genre project for Netflix called Dhaka, set to star Chris Hemsworth. “That's Sam Hargrave, who did all of the second-unit directing on Avengers 3 and 4, who'll be directing. That's about a kidnap extractress going to Dhaka to save the son of a drug dealer from India, so it's a complex movie with a lot of political texture in it.” The pair are also positioning AGBO to release major ‘tentpole’ films from established directors — and the first one will be The Electric State, directed by It and Mama filmmaker Andy Muschietti.

As for the Russo’s own directorial project, they’ll be re-teaming with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely — the screenwriters behind MCU films including all three Captain America entries, Thor: The Dark World, and Infinity War and Avengers 4. “The next film that we will direct will most likely be for our company, and most likely be a tentpole,” the Russos said. “Markus and McFeely have come on board in a very unique capacity, as what we're calling Co-Presidents of Story. We've been developing inside the studio system for many years, inside networks, and we know what works about them and what doesn't work about them."

Of course, there’s the small matter of the next Avengers to come before that — the conclusion to Infinity War is scheduled for release in May 2019. The exact nature of the plot is being kept top secret with Infinity War only just hitting cinemas — and anyone who’s seen the MCU’s latest film will know that Marvel’s finest have one hell of a challenge to face.

Listen to the full Russo Brothers interview on the Empire Podcast here.