'Captain America 2' may be directed by 'Community' helmers Anthony and Joe Russo
The 'Community' directors have also worked on 'Arrested Development.'
Actor Chris Evans (l.) is expected to return as Captain America for the sequel.
Zade Rosenthal/Disney/AP
Thanks to The Avengers, a foundation for “Phase 2″ of Marvel’s shared movie universe has been solidified. Next year, the solo superhero films Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 will build off that groundwork, followed by Captain America 2 in 2014 – along with other films that have yet to be officially announced. (Although, Ant-Man and Black Panther are both looking like strong contenders at the time of writing this.)
Production has begin on the Iron Man threequel, while the Thor sequel is slated to being shooting later this year. We previously heard rumblings that the second Captain America movie could likewise start filming before year’s end. Now that the film has secured a director(s), there’s a greater chance of that happening.
Marvel previously settled on a shortlist of directors for the Captain America sequel, including F. Gary Gray (who took a pass, in order to sign on for the N.W.A. biopic) and Adjustment Bureau writer/director George Nolfi. Variety is reporting that the job has instead gone to the left-field candidates who were included on that initial list: filmmaking siblings Anthony and Joe Russo.
The Russo brothers are best-known for their work in the comedy genre, having previously-helmed such films as Welcome to Collinwood and You, Me and Dupree. They’ve also directed such cult-TV comedy series as Arrested Development and the first two seasons of Community (which they also co-ran throughout Dan Harmon’s time as showrunner).
It was originally reported that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was very impressed by the Russo brothers’ “try-out” for the Captain America 2 directing job. Moreover, the siblings had already taken steps to avoid being branded as solely comedy filmmakers, seeing how they attached themselves to direct the Ciudad graphic novel adaptations (with Dwayne Johnson) prior to their interview for the Cap sequel.
Marvel heads clearly (hopefully?) know something that everyone else does not, since Captain America 2 will be more grounded and darker than its predecessor – as it deals primarily with Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) attempts to carry out missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the modern-day landscape. As it stands, the Russo brothers have been deemed worthy to carry out that task.
Sandy Schaefer blogs at Screen Rant.