The Russo Brothers Warned Filmmakers Against Creating A Shared Universe. (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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The Russo brothers, who have been at the forefront of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, helming blockbuster “Captain America” sequels, Avengers Infinity Wars, and Avengers Endgame, once warned other filmmakers about creating a shared universe.
One would think that after the incredible success of “Avengers: Infinity War” and Endgame, which is the second highest-grossing film of all time, the Russo brothers would be the first to share the map of the shared universes pioneered by the MCU. However, in a 2018 Variety interview, The Russo brothers actually warned other filmmakers against taking the same route, saying it’s an unsustainable model.
When asked about what advice they would have for other filmmakers interested in building a cinematic universe in an interview on the Playback podcast (via Variety), Joe Russo said, “Yeah, don’t do it.” He added, “Not everything can be sustained through a cinematic universe.”
Following the success of the MCU, Hollywood has unsuccessfully tried to duplicate it. DC Comics for instance tried to build its own Cinematic universe with characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
The Russo brothers believe that instead of focusing on building a cinematic universe, they should “continue to look for new ways to tell stories because I think the audience is open to it.”
Russo brothers believe shared universe plot has little to do with MCU’s success
The Russo brothers believe the success of the MCU cannot be conjured up without decades of effort behind it. The Russo brothers said the success of MCU goes far beyond the shared universe plot, attributing the win to the viewers love of serialized content.
Russo said, “I think all of this — Netflix, Marvel, ‘Star Wars,’ this massive moment of disruption we’re in — is really a function of audiences craving new kinds of storytelling. I think we had a really nice run for 100 years of two-hour, two-dimensional storytelling, but I think over the next decade, decade-and-a-half, you’re going to see a radical shift in how stories are told.”
The Russo brothers pointed out that Netflix releasing ten episodes of a show is in itself a new version of the serialized content that viewers are devouring in this day and age.
