The problem with directing four massive comic book blockbusters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which includes the franchise’s two highest-grossing installments ever and what was briefly the biggest hit in the history of cinema, is that you’ll never be able to escape its shadow for the rest of your career, something Joe and Anthony Russo know all too well.
The filmmaking duo have been hitting the press circuit hard in support of Netflix action extravaganza The Gray Man, but it never takes too long for the conversation to circle back around to Marvel, especially when those Secret Wars questions are just waiting to be unleashed.
The Russo brothers love television, they also adore film, and they’re close with the upper echelon of Marvel Studios management, leading many to believe it’s a case of “when” and not “if” they make their return. With that in mind, Anthony Russo admitted to TechRadar that the door remains open, despite nothing being actively in the works.
“We love longform storytelling. That’s why television has always appealed to us. It’s why our Marvel movies and, to an extent, The Gray Man, appealed to us, too, which can be conceived as that type of narrative, because they’re based on comic books and a novel series. So yes, we have a passion for TV shows and we love Marvel, but we don’t have any plans to do something with them, either on the series or movie front.”
Joe went one step further, though, throwing out a hypothetical suggestion so wild, we kind of want to see it happen.
“Whatever we say, we’re going to get asked about it 100 times over the next week. So let’s pick the Great Lakes Avengers. Or the story of Cheese-Man!”
The Great Lakes Avengers have become cult heroes for how weird the lineup is, even if the likes of Deadpool, Hawkeye, and Squirrel Girl have teamed up with Mr. Immortal, Dinah Soar, Doorman, Big Bertha, and Flatman in the past. It’d be weird as hell, and that’s fine by us.