The Russo Brothers Break Down the Biggest Marvel Moments | GQ

just a little warning so you know this is gonna be a very frank and open conversation so if there's anything you don't want to hear before you see it you might want to stop now hi were the Russo brothers we're gonna talk about the biggest moments in the MCU I am Iron Man Favreau really did set the tone for the Marvel Universe in that film it is distinctive tone from from other superhero films in a way that it marries humor with with spectacle and and you know it spawned 22000 you and I think it you know that the the tone that was set there was like what made us why not want to become a part of the MCU one day kill power [Music] tony stark's I am Ironman moment is really the moment that defines superheroes and the Marvel Universe as presented to the audience he is the first know a superhero knees the first known hero in that universe of course she seen Captain Marvel you'll know that the bull she and and the Captain America came before him but he is the linchpin what will be the Avengers moving forward you know I remember you know watching the original Iron Man movie in the movie theater it made a huge impression on both Joe and I and particularly the end of the film when he says I am Iron Man because you know up until that moment you know superhero movies had been so focused on secret identities and etc for him to actually just blurt it out at the end of the movie like that I mean we're we have a very subversive approach to how we like to look at storytelling and and sort of think about pop culture and that moment was so sort of brilliantly and unexpected and unexpectedly subversive that it really excited us it is one thing to question the official story and another thing entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that I'm a superhero I never said you're a superhero didn't well good because that would be outlandish and fantastic I I'm just not the hero type clearly with this laundry list of character defects all the mistakes I've made largely public you know truth is I am Iron Man now that line while it made a huge impression on us at the time you know we the idea of calling back to that line to end endgame came to its very late in the progress we're an editorial in fact the last thing that we ever shot an Avengers endgame was Robert Downey saying I am Iron Man and clicking his fingers we shot that in January of this year in our final reshoots and originally he said he didn't say anything to fan if she smiled and clicked his fingers it felt empty to us an editorial and you know Thanos would say I'm inevitable and then Tony would smile back and click his fingers and we just felt like didn't it didn't service the moment correctly and it didn't fulfill his journey as a character and we're seeing that with our editor Jeff Ford and he said Vanna says I am inevitable if Tony just responded and I am Iron Man got the game on she said let's see this immediately now and ended up being the last thing poetically it end up being the last English shot and and and all credit to Jeff for our editor he edited every MCU movie we've done and he's edited several others as well he's one of the cornerstones creative cornerstones of the MCU so I think it's very fitting that he would have come up with that that line that sort of pays off the entire series so well I could do this all day [Music] I can do this all day I think the lion I could do this all day is really representative of who cap is as a character it represents that that that ethic in him that he he will not quit until the fight is won and then he will always stand on the side of right now it's interesting because that line is interpreted several different ways and with different inflections and different tones throughout the Marvel Universe he says it in First Avenger you just don't know when to give up and it's a very earnest announcement of who he is as a character he says it in civil war ironically to Tony at the end of the film I could do this all day and then he says it to himself in the avengers endgame a younger spunkier version of CAP who wears spandex says it to an older wiser version of CAP who doesn't want to hear it and i think that that that really illustrates in a really interesting arc for him as a character if you just study that line you can see how he how he moved throughout the Marvel Universe from a patriot basically to insurgent and then to you know sort of you know wise and tough war vet at the at the very end the elevator fight scene the first scene that we shot in the Winter Soldier was the elevator fight scene which is our very first scene we shot him in the MCU so it was very important to see nothing emotionally metaphorically for a lot of reasons we felt like the style of fighting in the elevator was what was going to make this movie distinctive it was visceral was hard-hitting it was aggressive was violent and we felt a very real world to us [Music] and what we're trying to do is take cap and and pull them into some semblance of psychological realism and wit that we're trying to drag you know our corner of the MCU and that as well and I think that elevator sequence not only represents you know mistrust and subversion but but it also represents a change in cap forever it would be never he'll never be the same character again when he comes out of that elevator you know one of the great thrills of that movie is we got to challenge Capps devotion to Authority and to the to the country he's served because now when we were pushing that movie it's like you know how do you challenge a character like Captain America you know he's so strong he's so resolute he's so single-minded in his purpose and we thought it was very important to find a way to undermine that strip away everything that he was relying on captain somebody murdered my friend I'm gonna find out why anyone gets in my way they're gonna regret it anyone understood so the this Revit this moment of Revelation when he realizes that he can't trust the team that he's serving that the authorities that he's serving happens in but in the middle of the movie in an elevator when he's in the Triskelion he's just finished talking to Robert Redford he's just lied to a superior presumably for the first time in his life that's not something Captain America would normally do but he's getting a little nervous about what's happening and he doesn't know quite how to react or who to trust then he gets in an elevator after that meeting and he realizes in that elevator that he's surrounded by not by allies that he believed as he previously believed but by enemies and it's it's a huge turning point in Captain America's arc and I think in the entire MCU where cap realizes that he's alone and I think that's a real important marker on his journey which came which you know goes from sort of a dutiful selfless servant to an actual eyes Din dividual at that moment he realizes he's alone in that elevator and he has to fight his way out and that's the beginning of his road to to Peggy Carter at the end events a fulcrum shift for the entire MCU from phase 1 to phase 2 think we're you know it's it's they're going down the rabbit hole it's starting to deconstruct itself and everything is not as simple as it appears and it takes us on a journey all the way to the end of endgame there was no doubt we're being self referential with the hail Hydra moment and the elevator and end game where were cap leans in and says hail Hydra but also it's just a it's it's a way to symbolize how he has changed as a character you know that that he no longer needs to punch his way out of an elevator that you know the efficiency is critical for him in this moment and he is his efficiency even though he could have won the other way as well and I think that I think that that's fun for the audience to see the growth in him as a character it's it's not only referential to the comic current comic run but it's its referential to who he is it just speaks to how far he's come spider-man gets introduced in the games we knew we're doing a build-up to spider-man he was my favorite character growing up you know we fought really hard to get him in that movie it's an unprecedented deal done between Disney and Sony to get our hands on spider-man for civil war yeah it was kind of my rule a lot to make that deal happen yeah but we were relentless that we needed him for the movie and as a great producers do he obliged and made it happen and so then we knew we needed an incredible introduction for the character and and you know it starts with a verbal Tia from Downey and a smile and then it cut to a title card he says Queen I think that that really afraid one who knows the character was a jolt of excitement in the theater there's a needle drop on the card and then you know an introduction into the first you know teenage actor to actually play spider-man Oh mr. Parker um what what are you hey I'm Peter Tom Holland was an actor that we fought very hard for to play the part we wanted to make sure that we had a really boyish you know actor in that role because that's what I remembered that I loved about the character what I identified with and also creates diversification in the Marvel Universe just in terms of Heroes is there's all the heroes there's younger heroes and younger heroes have different you know issues that they're dealing with and will have a different perspective and problems as they arise and you know one of the I think one of our favorite directing moments from any of the Marvel films was that first scene where Tony Stark shows up to recruit Peter Parker and Peter's very small bedroom and the the way that Downey jumped in and helped Tom Holland with his blocking in that scene we just marveled at Robert and we're like gosh she's creating a star-making performance through blocking with Tom so your this spider Ling crime-fighting spider your spider boy my spider-man not in that onesie or not it's not a onesie leave this I was actually having a really good day today you know start didn't miss my train this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there and how did you protest nailed it who else knows anybody nobody I mean the best gift you can give to an actor's that put them in a scene with Robert Downey jr. and you know nobody's gonna bring out more out of you because he's such an amazing actor and he did it was it was it to see him work with Tom in that scene and really make sure that we were maximizing everything we were pulling everything out of Tom that we possibly could Downey was worked very hard in that scene and it was always always grateful to him for that look when you can do the things that I can but you don't and then the bad things happen they happen because either so you want to look out for the little guy you want to do your part make the world a better place on that right yeah yeah yeah just looking after we weren't looking at the other films for inspiration we're looking at the comic books exactly we wasn't even a very truthful to him as a teenager that was most important to us in this iteration of the character is to really run at on a stylistic level out a casting level etc this idea that this is a kid a real kid in New York City and we that fed the design of his apartment certainly there's obviously the casting of Tom first and foremost but yeah we're really looking on a detail level how do we how do we bring the that everyday teenager experience into the equation for that character it spoke to me when I was 10 and I read spider-man comics was that you know Peter Parker was Peter Pan type characters boy genius who suddenly had an incredible about responsibility thrust on him and and through very tragic circumstances and it felt it felt both emotional and tragic and and fun all wrapped up into one and and I didn't know how to process it as a kid and sometimes you know the books would make me really sad and sometimes the books would make me laugh but they always had this sort of Shakespearean element and he was just sort of a you know clown that moved through the world and brought mirth everywhere he went so that was what was so important to us is that we add that element to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and and that's what we were chasing that's a good kind yeah we did have a debate about synthetic versus organic who think you know ultimately you know we just felt like it was more interesting to to go with synthetic you know that that was part of his brain and it's just you know brain as part of his power Peter part I think that's really what would total it for us is we you know again when you're introducing spider-man it's not a standalone movie he's a small part of an ensemble so we don't have a lot of screen time to tell his story and I think leaning on the synthetic choice for for his webbing was just a way for us to help pull out his intellect in some small ways in this limited amount of screen time that we have you know what I think is really cool this wedding tensile strength is off the charts what manufactured that I did his actual reveal and Civil War his costumed reveal is on the tarmac and when Tony calls for underoos and again we like doing little you know little teases or lead ups to characters and everybody knows that that means immediately and then a shot in a certain way where there's a shadow and a web and he's flared in the Sun and he lands and you know and he is the first thing that he's done in costume is steel cap shield from him and a curse is an iconic moment [Music] in a costume upgrade that Tony Stark provided for him by the way yeah and then we thought it was very funny that you know you're injecting this kid into a very tense situation but he has no loyalties one way or the other I mean he's just there to do what Tony's asking him to do and and he over talks a little bit and Tony has to tell him to shut up and respect the situation yeah thanks well I could have stopped the landing a little better it's just a new suit well it's nothing mr. stark it's perfect thank you yeah we don't really need to start a conversation okay Kat captain big fan spider-man yeah we'll talk about it later just everyone good job but we wanted a very auspicious entry for for spider-man and something that spoke to like this is a game changer in the MCU and I think that was the best thing that we could come up with this idea of stripping cap shield from them which is very hard to do Captain America can lift you on there well when we saw that moment in age of Ultron where they're all trying to pick up the hammer and cap seems to move it and ever so yeah in a way where you're not quite sure did I see that did I not see that did he move it and not really not one Thor Thor Thor is also not sure yeah I kept that there's a real moment of trepidation on the part of Thor but I think for us like everybody who saw that moment you just can't forget it and you just you you you want to go back there on a story telling ignites your imagination well cap I don't think cap was interested in embarrassing Thor yeah or but it was undermining is what's great about is this is self bolita in anyway because Thor is already a character who struggles with self belief but he didn't know the cap didn't know until he tried that he can actually move it so it's it's very fun to see him reverse himself at a millisecond like that fortunately I remember you know just sitting around the writing room with Markus and McFeely I can't remember how it came up but the they might have been Kevin's bench it might it yeah it might have been Kevin Feige snitched that we sort of revisit that concept and pull it pull it forward to fruition that was also you know we'll admit that we snuck into a screening an opening night and Westwood The Village Theatre and the moment where cap caught the hammer the way that the audience responded made six and a half years of very hard work well worth it it's nap so the snap is a it's just part of our philosophy of the way that we look at popular movies is that they are the intention of making a movie like this of the scale is to you know reach a global audience with the film that's why they're called popular movies and and you want to engage them on a very visceral level because this generation is about global conversation and you know social media is a driver for pop culture and say we like to make really disruptive choices and our storytelling that get people talking and and and invite them into the conversation we grew up film geeks and spent our entire childhood talking about movies and arguing about our favorite characters and talking about our favorite moments and walking out of Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back Return of the Jedi and doing the same things that are done today but just within our little group of friends now you can have a friend in India and Japan and the UK that you talked to online about the same things and so we're trying to give that same experience back that made us so happy when we were kids and we're trying to give that those kinds of stories to the world and and we can do that by making surprising and aggressive choices that connect them on an emotional level and and get them talking about and certainly that of snapping his fingers and winning at the end of that movie was going to generate a discussion we think very specifically about each of each of the characters in every narrative that we do and infinity war we were just thinking about where does the character begin where do they end we knew we were her in infinity war we were hurling toward a final ending in endgame so infinity war that a lot of the narratives in infinity where we were about how did we want to set ourselves up for the story that we wanted to tell an end game so our process of deciding who sort of was flipped away by Thanos and who wasn't was based upon where we wanted to go with the storytelling an end game and it was very specific to that I don't feel so good you're all right I don't want to know want to go [Music] we knew that in in in wrapping up the story in Avengers endgame we were mostly trying to close the narratives of the original Avengers so those characters were preserved so that they could their their final acts could be played out in endgame the guardians of the galaxy becomes the guardians of the galaxy well certainly at the end of guardians when they truly become a family and I think it's maybe a good sacrifice at the end of the movie out that would certainly qualify because the guardians are a whole different tone and a different you know sub set of characters that you know can can intermingle with and crash into you know the the original trajectory of the Marvel Universe I think it shook things up in a way it was spectacular and it hasn't been the same sense and certainly infinity war and endgame wouldn't be what the air without the presence of the guardians [Music] Oh mortal ah said it yourself were the guardians of the galaxy so those was just a few of our favorite moments in the MCU I know there there are many more that we have and I'm sure that you have so if you want to comment below about what those are hopefully we can continue this conversation

Channel: GQ

Views: 3,429,592

Keywords: avengers, captain america, iron man, marvel, marvel cinematic universe, spider-man, end game, russo brothers, anthony russo, russo brothers endgame, endgame break down, russo brothers break down endgame, marvel movies, endgame, avengers endgame, mcu, russo brothers avengers, marvel scene, russo brothers explain endgame, the russo brothers, russo brothers interview, russo brothers 2019, russo brothers gq, avengers 4, russo brothers avengers 4, joe russo, russo, gq, gq magazine

Id: encBEratiak

Length: 26min 12sec (1572 seconds)

Published: Tue May 07 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/jargonaught]

So it's confirmed that Cap was completely able to pick up Mjolnir in Age of Ultron, but he reacted almost instantly when he realized he was moving it.

[u/mhall85]

I would have watched them talk for hours... so good!

[u/cactus-stark]

Thank you so much Russo Brothers for everything.

[u/[deleted]]

Fun factoids that “I am Ironman” was the last scene shot for Endgame, and Feige made the push to revisit Cap using Mjolnir in Endgame.

[u/JTPusherlovegirl94]

It’s so interesting getting to hear in depth the reasoning behind some of their choices in the MCU. I love how dedicated they were to try and get Spider-Man right.

[u/lightandtheglass]

I seriously hope we get another director’s round table in the Blu-ray.

[u/falsehood]

Their directors commentaries were all excellent.

[u/jolllof]

Legends!

[u/viewsonic041]

Such great directors. Thank you.