Anthony and Joe Russo, collectively known as the Russo Brothers, have played big roles in the entertainment industry, especially in the movie scene. They are best known for directing four Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). But aside from that, they also helmed big Netflix titles like Extraction and The Gray Man. But there’s one huge franchise they haven’t made a movie for so far: Star Wars. Though they had talked with Kevin Feige about doing a movie set in the galaxy far, far away, the two wanted to build their own universe.
Last year, Joe revealed their early conversations with Feige about collaborating on a new Star Wars movie. However, the project has since been shelved. So, when asked about it in an interview with Games Radar, the Russos stressed that they wanted to focus on “original storytelling.”
“The intention is that we want to build our own Star Wars,” Joe said. “For us, it's all about the focus on original storytelling and new ideas.”
He explained that the industry was stuck in a “repetitive storytelling” rut that potentially abused franchises like Star Wars. Hence, he believed the audience wanted to see new ideas and stories instead of repeating the same tales. That said, if there’s one thing they want to do for the viewers after leaving Marvel, it’s to give them original content.
“Barbie and Oppenheimer showed the appetite out there - audiences want something different,” he added.
Anthony agreed, saying they want to focus on doing original stories that they have been actively developing over the past several years with other writers and collaborators. With the new movies coming from them, like the upcoming sci-fi film The Electric State, they have shifted their gear to create their own materials.
“We are very excited over the next several years to start to be able to execute things,” he said.
What happened to the Russo Brothers’ supposed Star Wars movie with Kevin Feige?
After conquering the MCU, the Russo Brothers were supposed to dominate Star Wars next, but the project was canned. In an interview with Variety in May 2023, Joe revealed there were talks with Feige to team up on a new movie for Lucasfilm, but it didn’t materialize.
Feige’s supposed Star Wars film was officially announced in September 2019. At the time, he was about to join Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy’s plan to create a new wave of Star Wars content after the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga.
“With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling,” Walt Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Alan Horn announced. “And knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together.”
The film was then in development, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron writing the script. However, by March 2023, the project had been shelved indefinitely and was no longer in active development.
Based on the Russo Brothers’ words, it looks like fans can’t expect to see a Star Wars movie helmed by these two. That said, with their great talents, they have the potential to create their own sci-fi universe that may turn into a huge franchise.
