Credit: Marvel StudiosAmid ongoing controversies surrounding many of Marvel Studio’s recent releases, longtime MCU collaborator and Avengers: Endgame (2019) director, Joe Russo, is sharing his honest opinions about the current state of the franchise, advising fans to be “patient” with the studio’s redirection post-Infinity Saga.
The MCU’s Phase Four proved to be extremely controversial amongst fans. And so far, it seems like Marvel’s Phase Five is following suit after the misfire of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). But followers of the franchise likely remember a time when this wasn’t the case—namely, during the highly-praised Infinity Saga.
Helmed by Joe Russo and his brother, Anthony, 2017’s Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame became two of the top-grossing movies of all time, breaking the two billion dollar point at the international box office. Millions of fans headed to theaters to catch each movie on the big screen over its opening weekend, creating a rare sense of camaraderie and worldwide hype for the MCU that hasn’t been replicated since.
Phase Four was an experimental time for Marvel. The studio elected to beef up their Disney+ roster of original TV shows in the aftermath of the Infinity Saga with Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and more. Surely, the post-Endgame readjustment wasn’t made any easier by the pandemic, which put massive production delays on the MCU’s slate of upcoming releases—something the studio is still struggling to catch up with to this day.
When it came time for audiences to safely return to theaters, the box office showed a steep decline in interest in superhero movies. Even the generally well-liked Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) barely managed to break even throughout its theatrical run. While comparatively more successful at the box office, the disastrous Taika Waititi-led Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), quickly became one of the worst-rated MCU instillations to date.
Still, some positives came out of the highly divisive Phase Four. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) was a smash hit for the studio, bringing back the nostalgic charm of early 2000s superhero movies. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) was also well-received by both fans and critics and even managed to score some Oscar nods at this year’s ceremony.
The Russo Brothers have been more than open about their decision not to return to Marvel since the release of Endgame, despite fans practically begging for them to come back. Nonetheless, the directing duo still maintains positive ties to the studio. Joe recently offered high praise toward Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, noting that “there’s nobody better at telling stories” than him. He also claimed that Spider-Man: No Way Home was a near-perfect theatrical experience.
Meanwhile, Anthony has offered slightly more constructive criticism, saying of audiences’ Phase Four critiques that others may see the MCU’s success as “maybe not attainable” for everybody. Speaking with RadioTimes in a new interview, Joe expanded on his brother’s sentiments. He opened up about the MCU’s new direction with the Multiverse Saga, admitting that it’s a “very new story,” especially for longtime fans of the franchise:
I think that the type of story that unfolded in the phases that we worked on [was] a very specific kind of story that wrapped itself up in those phases and now it’s time for a new story, and I think that’s the direction that Marvel’s headed in. They’re telling you a very different story, a very new story and I think the audience just needs to be patient with the redirection because you can’t keep telling the same story over and over or you lose the audience.
Joe continued, brushing on why Disney’s low-risk creative tragedy with its large-scale storytelling is actually a huge win for the future guaranteed success of Marvel:
I think they’re taking some very big swings and they’re playing around with the tone and they’re championing diversity as much as anyone in the storytelling space right now and all of these things are huge wins for large-scale storytelling.
Still, Joe doubled down on his assertions that he and Anthony have no plans to return to Marvel anytime soon, and are choosing to focus on their own production studio, AGBO, instead:
We love them to death, we had an amazing experience working together, all of us, we’re focused on AGBO right now and all the projects that we have going on at AGBO. It’s been a very busy year for us… there’s a lot going on in our world right now and that’s where our focus is at the moment.
Joe’s remarks about fans needing to be “patient” with the MCU are particularly interesting. However, it does seem like a reassuring claim amid the long line of movie misfires the studio has pumped out in recent years. After all, his comments serve as a reminder that the Infinity Saga was far from an instant success and, rather, took years to develop and formulate before it hit its peak in the last two Avengers films.
Considering the Russo Brothers had a huge part in creating Marvel’s universe, Joe seems like a reliable source when discussing the future of the MCU. It’s possible that the next few movies, such as James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) and The Marvels (2023), will slowly ramp up the quality of storytelling that Marvel Studios is known for. With Joe’s comments in mind, it seems like fans have something exciting to look forward to ahead of the Multiverse Saga’s finish.
What do you think of Joe Russo’s recent claims about the future of the MCU? Do you agree with what he had to say? Let us know the comments below.