Anthony Russo On AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Tone, BATMAN V SUPERMAN, More CIVIL WAR
The latest from Civil War co-director Anthony Russo sees him discuss how comics influence the fight choreography, how he & Joe Russo are approaching Avengers: Infinity War tonally and also what he thinks of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Check it out after the jump!
In addition to Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man’s inclusion, co-director Anthony Russo also discussed returning to the director’s chair(s) for Avengers: Infinity War at the Comic-Con Experience in Brazil and how he and his brother, Joe Russo, are approaching the highly-anticipated two-part event stylistically. Furthermore, Russo also weighed in on a potential competition between Marvel and Warner Bros. with its upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie.
“The tone that we've been working in Winter Soldier and Civil War is very specific to the character of Captain America,” said Russo when asked how or if the tone of Cap’s movies will carry over into Avengers: Infinity War. “We like the fact that Captain America is basically a man only a little more so. He doesn't have this sort of fantasy elements that some of the other characters have. We came up with a style for the film that's very like visceral interface; a little hand-held [camera work], a lot of close-work, a lot of close fighting. It all suites Captain America. But yes now we're evolving into an Avengers movie after Civil War, it does ask for something different. And stylistically, we will be going in a different direction. It's a little early for me to talk too much about it [because] we sort of have this policy with like one movie at a time. There's still a lot that needs to be worked out as far as Infinity War goes.” About Civil War leading into the third and fourth Avengers installments, screenwriter Stephen McFeely recently told Entertainment Weekly that he and co-writer Christopher Markus “get to break this thing up and leave [the heroes] in weird state. So, when shit hits the fan we've got to figure out a way to pick them all up again.”
Back at Anthony Russo’s Omelete interview, the director was then asked about there being a competition with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice considering it hits theaters just over a month before Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War and both movies share some similarities. “Well, as filmmakers, my brother and I, we love the [superhero] genre,” Russo started. “The more good comic book movies there are, the better as far as we are concerned. We don't really look at it as a competition. We think [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director] Zack Snyder is great, and we hope the movie is fun, great and cool, and something we all enjoy just like everybody else.”
Finally, when asked about the fight choreography for Captain America: Civil War, and specifically the Cap and Bucky versus Iron Man fight featured in the teaser trailer, Anthony Russo said it takes months to choreograph those type of scenes. “We're big fans of action movies and we sort of fetishize it,” he said. “We study a lot of action films. We look at the comic books for a lot of inspiration about certain moments we want to hit in the action. Our stunt team is amazing, they're all comic fans as well. And so we all sort of vibe off of what's done in the books. And figure out a more kinetic and energetic way to do it in a feature.” Asked about any inspirations for the fight scenes, particularly the Avengers versus Crossbones battle described in the D23 footage, Anthony Russo declared a fan-favorite. “We really lit up when we saw The Raid, so that movie excited us on that level,” revealed the director. “We saw that just before we executed Winter Soldier. So I think it helped inform some of our work on that. These characters are so interesting and their powers are so interesting. We love thinking about scenarios that challenge them, and sort of adversaries that give them difficulties. In that sequence, we bring back Crossbones and he's able to give Cap a run for his money in that scene which I think people will enjoy.”
Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, Captain America: Civil War finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability. Get ready to pick a side and join the nonstop action playing out on two fronts when Captain America: Civil War opens in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2016. The movie has an ensemble cast led by Chris Evans, and includes Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, with William Hurt, and Martin Freeman. What do you think?