At this level, administrators Joe and Anthony Russo are fairly professionals with regards to pitching and overseeing productions set inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’ve helmed among the franchise’s greatest movies and are returning for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. After all, quite a bit must be carried out for these motion pictures earlier than the digicam begins rolling, and that was true for 2016’s Captain America: Civil Warfare. The Russos recalled having to pitch the movie to Robert Downey Jr., and I’m shaking a little bit bit over their account of occasions.
Loads of followers could bear in mind the making of Civil Warfare most for its much-anticipated use of Spider-Man, who made his MCU debut in what’s now one of many highest ranked Marvel motion pictures. Nonetheless, there was additionally the matter of convincing Robert Downey Jr. to hitch up, contemplating the story wouldn’t have labored with out his Tony Stark (Iron Man). As a part of a profile piece for THR, the Russos recalled sharing the concept with producer Kevin Feige, and so they have been considerably thrown for a loop afterwards, as Anthony mentioned:
We pitched Kevin on the concept and Kevin goes, ‘All proper, I purchase it. Now you guys bought to go get Downey.’ And I used to be like, ‘What do you imply we bought to go get Downey? Aren’t you coming?’ And he didn’t.
Kevin Feige was too humorous for this, given he simply tasked two administrators with pitching one other MCU movie to one of many greatest actors in Hollywood. However, after all, this explicit flick differed from RDJ’s previous appearances within the superhero-centric franchise. Throughout his and his brother’s interview with the commerce, Joe Russo went on to set the scene for the pitch assembly, and it’s laborious to not get second-hand nervousness:
Joe Russo: Downey was sitting on a chaise lounge, splayed out like a king, on the roof of his workplace in Venice. Ant and I confirmed up and we’ve been rehearsing this pitch, and also you’re actually pitching the largest film star on the earth to take his large money cow character and convert it right into a villain.
Anthony Russo: In a Captain America film.
After all, as we all know, Robert Downey Jr. finally agreed to star within the movie alongside Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and a bunch of different MCU stars. Since then, evidently Downey and the Russos have solid stable skilled and private relationships. The Oppenheimer star even mentioned, when interviewed for THR’s story, that the sibling filmmakers are “household” to him at this level. Nonetheless, as Joe remembered, pitching the third Cap movie to Downey years in the past was no small activity:
In a film that wasn’t even titled after his character. And it was the pitch of our lives. And he mentioned, ‘Sure, let’s do it.’ He favored the danger, to Robert’s credit score, and that alternative led the explosive upside to Infinity Warfare and Endgame.
The brothers are reuniting with Robert Downey Jr. for his or her two upcoming superhero motion pictures and, satirically, this shall be a good greater MCU leap for the actor. Downey is returning to the franchise as Physician Doom, one of many greatest villains within the historical past of comedian books. Rumors have swirled round Downey’s Doom, however what we all know for certain is that the actor is actually placing within the work whereas creating the character. The Russos have even mentioned that as a part of that “intense” course of, the star has helped write backstory and share costume concepts.
One thing that’s notably ironic now’s that RDJ really persuaded the Russos to return for these new Avengers motion pictures. What I’m eager for is that the trio’s collaborative spirit will yield superior work that’s corresponding to their previous movies. That’s a tall order however, contemplating what they’ve carried out collectively, they deserve the good thing about the doubt. Within the meantime, take a look at the group’s first shared MCU outing, Captain America: Civil Warfare, by streaming it with a Disney+ subscription.