The Russo brothers love to assemble the “Avengers” actors outside of Marvel.
Filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo enjoy showcasing different sides of the superhero stars in movies beyond the genre, with Chris Evans becoming the latest with his performance as a villain in the spy thriller “The Gray Man,” out Friday on Netflix.
“We love it because they’re our dear friends,” Joe Russo told the Daily News. “We prioritize the work experience as much as we prioritize the work, because we’re leaving our families to go work for a year on a project, and you want to make sure that you’re doing it with people you care about and want to spend that time with.
“We’ve grown so close with all of those actors over our time at Marvel. It’s fun to encourage them or help them fulfill other aspects of their range and work on projects that they think are exciting.”
The Russos, who formed the AGBO production company in 2017, directed two “Captain America” films starring Evans before working with many other Marvel stars in 2018′s “Avengers: Infinity War” and 2019′s “Avengers: Endgame.”
They’ve since produced the 2019 police thriller “21 Bridges,” which stars Chadwick Boseman as an NYPD detective chasing down cop killers in the city.
Boseman, who was the lead in Marvel’s “Black Panther,” credited Anthony Russo with pitching “21 Bridges” to him at the “Infinity War” premiere, telling the Daily News in 2019, “I found there was a lot of promise in the script.”
The film was one of Boseman’s final roles before his death in 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer.
The Russos also produced the 2020 Netflix action flick “Extraction” starring “Thor” actor Chris Hemsworth as a black-market mercenary tasked with rescuing a kidnapped child, with Joe Russo writing the script. The filmmakers now have an “Extraction” sequel in the works.
Last year, the Russos released the addiction and war drama “Cherry,” which they directed and produced. “Spider-Man” actor Tom Holland stars in the movie, telling the Daily News last year that it gave him a chance to explore an entirely different kind of role.
“‘Cherry’ would be the first time that it’s had a lot of coverage, with the Russos, and it’s a story about an American veteran, so lots of people are going to be interested in that,” Holland said at the time. “It’s the first time I’ve really done it on the big stage.”
Anthony Russo says there are “all kinds of possibilities” for future projects at Marvel but says “we’re not talking about anything.” They’re focused on collaborations with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have penned many of their screenplays, including co-writing “The Gray Man” with Joe Russo.
“A lot of it is the type of material that takes a long time to bake,” Anthony Russo said. “We’ve got some really cool things coming that we’ve been working on for a while.”
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