As the directors of Marvel's upcoming
Avengers: Infinity War and
Avengers 4, Joe and Anthony Russo know a thing or two about having to deliver under pressure. After all, their upcoming films have been 10 years in the making, and
Infinity War is this year's most anticipated title.
So when the directors were asked their thoughts on Rian Johnson's
Star Wars: The Last Jedi - another movie created under tremendous fan pressure - they had a lot to say about the divisive film.
"We love Rian Johnson as a filmmaker," Joe said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "When we heard he was gonna make that film, we sent an email to Disney saying, you couldn't ask for a better creator as a Star Wars fan."
"It's interesting because he's a brilliant filmmaker, and the response has been really fascinating," he added. "[These fans] are tough, can't please them all."
The Last Jedi received rave reviews from critics, though fans of
Star Wars seem more divided over the film, particularly with some of the decisions director Rian Johnson made. Regardless, the film has been an incredible success at the box office. So what gives?
"It depends, though, on your age too," Anthony offered. "I watched the movie with my 11-year-old daughter who is very into serialized storytelling and novels primarily, but she loves the bigger story. And she was just thrilled throughout the movie, making connections to the larger Star Wars universe. And just to sit next to her and see that sense of discovery and excitement in her was an amazing experience."
Joe added, "I think the fault line is between new fans and old fans, seems to be where it's lining up. When you're dealing with a character like Luke Skywalker, historically may be the most famous and potentially popular character in the history of movies…"
Overall, it seems
The Avengers directors came away from the film impressed with Rian Johnson and the decisions he made.
"[Johnson] took a lot of risks with the film," Joe said. "It's a very smart film with great transitions, shot beautifully. So we were very excited."
Whether or not the Russo brothers have taken similar risks with Avengers: Infinity War remains to be seen, but we'll find out soon enough when the highly anticipated movie opens in theaters May 4. As Infinity War will likely result in the deaths of some fan-favorite characters, let's hope that the directors retain that same "can't please them all" mentality when they read through the inevitable fan responses.