Avengers Endgame Co-Director Joe Russo Comments on Rumors if He Is Returning to Marvel
Joe Russo and Anthony Russo became household names after helming many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's best films ranging from Captain America: The Winter Soldier to Avengers: Endgame. There have been talks that the Russos could return to the franchise, but when news of Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit against Disney broke, Joe Russo said he was at "an impasse" when it came to working with the company again. Now that the lawsuit has been settled, Russo was asked about it again, and while he's glad things were resolved, he's still not sure if his days with Marvel are through or not.
Russo declined to discuss the status of his Marvel negotiations with Variety, saying "it would be inappropriate for us to comment on a deal if we were in the middle of it." However, he added, "I'm glad that the lawsuit's resolved. I do think it was indicative of significant change that's been happening. The resolution speaks volumes about the respect for artists moving forward in this changing landscape."
"On a personal level, I'm just more interested in diversity of storytelling," Russo explained. "I think the world is a better place the more diverse voices can be heard ... All of my favorite stuff in the last five years is outside of Hollywood. I think that that is important because artists are coming at it with individuality and a fresh perspective that isn't tainted by or affected by the machine that we have in Hollywood."
As for a potential return to Marvel, Russo has shared in the past what story would get him to return.
"I keep saying Secret Wars because that was one of the first books that I really fell in love with as a kid," Joe said in an interview back in 2019 with MTV when asked about returning to Marvel. "This notion of, you know, event storytelling, and I think that's part of the reason that we gravitate so strongly towards these event films and these ensemble films is the notion that you can contain so many different characters and so many different points of view and galvanize them around a story point is really compelling to us."
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The rest of Marvel's 2021 line-up includes Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is now playing in theaters, Eternals in theatres on November 5th, Hawkeye on Disney+ on November 24th, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in theatres on December 17th.