Before they were the directors of the MCU’s biggest Avengers titles, the Russo brothers cut their teeth on sitcoms like the quirky but beloved Arrested Development. They spoke about their rise to prominence in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter this week, recalling all the trial and tribulations it took to bring the Bluth family saga to life. Among their revelations, they explained that the hardest character to cast was Gob Bluth, and how they ultimately landed on Will Arnett. Part of the problem was Arnett’s recent history of failed pilots at the time, since it made studios view him as a potential liability.
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“It was Gob,” Joe Russo said easily when asked who was the hardest to cast in Arrested Development. “[Will] Arnett showed up like a week before shooting.” Anthony Russo disagreed, saying that casting Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth “was very tough as well.” Joe recalled, “We literally had to bring [Bateman] into the studio four times to get him cast because he had been in a bunch of failed pilots. So he was viewed as baggage at that time. [Series creator] Mitch [Hurwitz] was very nervous. He was like, ‘This could be bad luck if we cast him.’”
Thankfully, Hurwitz and the Russos persisted, as it’s hard to imagine anyone but Arnett playing either of the Bluth brothers in hindsight. The Russos were very self-effacing about their process in those early days, and said that they got very little faith from the studio. Nearly two decades later, the results speak for themselves.
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In this broad-ranging interview, the Russos explained their reckless entry into the entertainment business, which started by maxing out several credit cards to finance their first feature-length film, Pieces — made before they had even entered film school. They then struggled through school, directed another feature for free, and said that they didn’t start making a living until they got to Arrested Development.
The Russo brothers had directed other sitcom pilots before, and they were brought onto Arrested Development on the theory that their unorthodox style would be a good match for Hurwitz’s eccentricities. “They hired us because we were known as guerrilla filmmakers who were doing something interesting in the indie space,” Anthony recalled. “They threw the ball to us and said, ‘Try to reinvent how we can make television in a way that’s affordable, but also creatively stimulating.’”
That kicked off a busy few years for the brothers, and helped get them to Community, where they directed and executive produced 34 episodes, including some of the most beloved stories like “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.” This week, the Russos also talked more about how Community helped get them into the MCU thanks to superfan Kevin Feige.
“In Season 2 of Community… we ended up doing the paintball episodes, and one was the Star Wars spoof. Kevin is the biggest Star Wars fan you’ll ever meet,” Joe explained. Anthony cut in to explain that their agent called them with the news that Feige was considering them for the next Captain America movie. “That was unbelievable to us,” he said.
The connections between Arrested Development, Community, and the MCU have been discussed at length online — Community creator Dan Harmon even spoke to Hurwitz about the Russo brothers on his podcast Harmontown a few times in those years. It came full circle when Harmon was hired as a consultant on Dr. Strange based on his experience writing about portal travel on Rick and Morty. Now, if only the Russos can find a Gob-like role for Arnett in the MCU, everything will really come together.
Arrested Development is streaming now on Netflix in the U.S., while the Russos’ MCU work is all streaming on Disney+. The duo is returning to direct Avengers: Doomsday starting next month and Avengers: Secret Wars after that — the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga.
