Russo Brothers Add Anthony Mackie, Giancarlo Esposito, and More to New Netflix Movie

One of the Russo Brothers’ next projects is shaping up to have a cast rivaling that of Avengers: Endgame. The duo is currently directing The Electric State for Netflix, a production that has added four more household names to its expansive cast. Amongst those added to the picture Wednesday are Anthony Mackie, Giancarlo Esposito, Billy Bob Thornton, and Ke Huy Quan. Esposito and Quan will appear in the film while Mackie and Thornton have been cast in voice roles, voicing robots opposite the movie’s live-action stars.

In additional to voicing one of the film’s robotic characters, Esposito will also appear in the flesh as one of the movie’s antagonists opposite Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown. Quan’s role will see him a play a doctor sought out by Pratt’s and Brown’s characters, replacing Michelle Yeoh who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Variety first reported the news.

What is The Electric State about?

An adaptation of a sci-fi art book, The Electric State follows Brown as she makes her way across the country in the mid-1990s in an alternative timeline as a war between humans and robots rages on. Stanley Tucci and Jason Alexander have also been cast in the film. The film was written by Endgame scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

“This is a very human story about a teenage girl with all the powers of a teenage girl and nothing more,” Markus previously said in a statement on the film. “Another thing we are really proud of when it comes to this story is all the major characters, barring one supporting character, are women which is super exciting to be involved in.”  

When will The Electric State be released?

The film is currently shooting principal photography in Atlanta and Netflix has a tentative 2024 release date for the project. As with previous Russo/Netflix collaborations, it’s said this movie has been developed as a potential universe debut, meaning Netflix could be interested in fleshing the world introduced in the film further through additional movies and TV shows.

In addition to the Russos, Mike Larocca, Chris Castaldi, and Patrick Newall are also producing the picture. Markus, McFeely, Angela Russo-Ostot, Jake Aust, Geoff Haley, and Jeff Ford are executive producers on the project.