Marvel’s Hail Mary play: bringing back the Russo Brothers.

It’s not the worst idea in the world, but

In a shocking turn of events, the Russo Brothers are in talks with Marvel Studios to return to the company and film the next two Avengers movies.

According to a report from THR, Joe and Anthony Russo are in early talks to direct the planned Avengers 5 and the follow-up to that as well. Talks are said to be in the “early stages,” but should the brothers return, they would be making their fifth and sixth films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(THR link)

…but I hope they charged all that the traffic will bear. If only because Disney will absolutely blame them if this doesn’t work. I’m not confident that it will work, either. INFINITY WAR and ENDGAME benefited from having an actual plan for developing a complicated story over a decade of standalone and smaller-series films, coupled with characters with proven track records of generating interest, and a fanbase eager for the payoff. That… is not the current state of affairs.

Good luck, guys! You’re gonna need it.

#commissionearned

Coming eventually: Guy Ritchie’s live-action HERCULES.

I’m having a complicated reaction to this.

Of director [Guy] Ritchie, [producer] Joe [Russo] said, “Guy is perfect for it because he has penchant for experimentation.” He went on to add that the live-action “Hercules” will also be a musical — and share the original’s unconventional approach…

It’s like Disney keeps trying to get me, specifically, to watch their live-action remakes. Like I’m a holdout, or something. They almost got me with the live-action MULAN, but the slave labor was just a bridge too far. But this – I dunno. Even when Guy doesn’t click, his stuff is still fun to watch.

Russo Brothers to do Magic: the Gathering show for Netflix.

Kind of surprised this hadn’t happened yet, actually. Not necessarily the Russo Brothers, mind you. But somebody:

After 26 years of supernatural success at retail, the tabletop trading-card game called “Magic: The Gathering” is getting its first Hollywood screen adaptation: Netflix has just announced an animated original series called Magic:The Gathering from executive producers Joe & Anthony Russo, the co-directors of Avengers: Endgame.

Continue reading Russo Brothers to do Magic: the Gathering show for Netflix.