While known mostly for their comedic efforts (Community, Arrested Development) the sibling director duo of Anthony and Joe Russo are an Emmy winning ensemble. You don't win such a prestigious award unless you're highly skilled at your craft. However, the duo acknowledge that it was a fight to land the directing gig for Marvel Studios' Captain America: The Winter Soldier. "We were working on the third season of 'Community,' and we got a call from our agent saying [Marvel President] Kevin Feige was a big fan of the show and wanted to know if we would come into meet to talk about the next 'Captain America' movie," said Joe. "I think Kevin had seen the paint ball episode we did on 'Community' and thought, these guys should be directing action movies."
Anthony added, "The one thing Marvel does is think outside the box, going all the way back to Ang Lee with that first 'Hulk,' and the same thing with Jon Favreau ['Iron Man] and Kenneth Branagh ['Thor']. They like to go outside the genre. It's a very smart thing that they do and it's a way to keep it fresh with audiences. It's not easy to do something like that. Only someone like Kevin Feige can pull it off. You need to know how to manage something like that."
Because of the success Marvel Studios is having at the moment, Anthony acknowledged that the duo had to fight for the job. A few other directors were up for the job including George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau) and F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, Law Abiding Citizen), two directors most would think as being better suited for a film that's described as a political thriller. But being big comic book fans as kids, Anthony closed, "But we fell in love with the script and we really wanted to do this film so we went after it hard and ended up getting it."
Filming in progress
Release Date: April 4, 2014
MPAA Rating: This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated
Starring: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo, Toby Jones,Jeremy Renner (rumored), Emily VanCamp
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Written by: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Joe Simon (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book), Ed Brubaker (concept and story)
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” picks up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C. Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Georges St-Pierre, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp and Maximiliano Hernández with Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is directed by the team of Anthony and Joe Russo from a screenplay written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Alan Fine, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee. The creative production team on the film includes director of photography Trent Opaloch, production designer Peter Wenham, editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. and Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E. and three time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is set for release on April 4, 2014."