It's hard to imagine what the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be like without the Russo brothers. After all, the directing duo changed the MCU in the best possible way. However, there was a time when the Russos almost walked away from Marvel Studios forever. It has just been revealed that the filmmakers threatened to leave Captain America: Civil War over creative differences.
Joe and Anthony Russo first started working for the MCU with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The film proved to be a huge hit with fans and the Russos were asked to direct another sequel.
We already know that Civil War tore the Avengers apart as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers took opposing sides. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige loved the idea but Marvel execs didn't agree.
In the book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Russos confirmed that the Marvel Creative Committee was opposed to their plans. The committee suggested that the Avengers should fight Baron Zemo instead and that was the last straw for the directors.
"We reached a point where we said, out loud in a room, 'We're not interested in continuing as directors of this movie if it is going to be about managing politics and a third act," Joe said in the book.
Anthony then added that "Kevin [Feige] was very energized by that. And also, maybe it gave him some leverage in the situation because we were so clear about our point of view."
It's not surprising that the Russo brothers put their foot down when it came to Civil War. Although an Avengers vs Baron Zemo fight would have been interesting, we prefer what the Russos came up with.
The Russos went on to direct two more MCU movies after Civil War. It has not yet been confirmed whether the directors will return to work on more projects. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.
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