It seems the Russo Brothers were almost returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but those plans have hit a recent snag.
Recently, The Wall Street Journal ran an in-depth piece on Scarlett Johansson’s legal battle with Disney over the release of Black Widow. The WSJ noted in the report that this lawsuit from Johansson to Disney had shifted things for the Marvel brand – so much so that Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo are reluctant to commit to a return at this point in time.
The Wall Street Journal reports, “Since the lawsuit, brothers Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, directors of Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ the highest-grossing movie of all time, hit an impasse in negotiations to direct another Marvel movie. The site continues with, “The Johansson dispute left them unsure how their next movie would be distributed and how they would be paid, according to people familiar with the matter.”
At the time of writing, there’s no word on what the Russo Brothers were in talks to direct, but sources close to the situation have said it could range from a fifth Avengers film, the new Captain America entry, or even the long-rumored Secret Wars movie.
Outside of the MCU, the Russo Brothers have found mild success. They’ve produced independent films, television series and directed Cherry starring Tom Holland. The latter was meant to be their awards season attempt but received mixed reviews and walked away with no significant nominations.
The Russos Brothers’ next project is The Gray Man for Netflix. The upcoming action thriller has a production budget of $200 million, making it the most expensive film ever made by Netflix. It stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas.
