Civil War Turns 10: Russo Brothers Reveal Behind-the-Scenes Drama

Ajouté : 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]The movie Civil War started the Civil War within Marble. If all we do is keep playing the same note over and over again, optimistic ending, expected ending, there's no shape to the ark.

[00:00:13]>> He's my friend.

[00:00:15]So was I.

[00:00:17]>> Movie still works, huh?

[00:00:20]Joe and Anthony Russo, the director of the Captain America Civil War, >> co-star of Captain America: Civil War, by the way.

[00:00:29]>> Yeah.

[00:00:30]>> Loved your cameo.

[00:00:32]>> Yeah, it's uh it was hard work.

[00:00:35]>> Uh all right, so boys, the tagline or one of the many taglines used for the film um was whose side are you on? Who's on the posters? Uh I gave you guys 10 years to think about it, and now I'd like for a definitive answer. Uh, are the Russo brothers team Cap or team Iron Man?

[00:00:51]>> I mean, at the end of the day, it's like, are you team uh institution? Are you uh are you um uh team rebel, you know? So, I think I'm team rebel.

[00:01:03]>> There you go.

[00:01:07]>> Ant, >> I'm wear I'm wearing my colors.

[00:01:12]>> I love it. Very nice. Um, I want to know there there's a couple of pairings on the teams that surprised me. Uh, Natasha specifically going against Steve. When you guys decided, uh, who was going to be on whose team, what was the process like? Uh, I know you guys love fantasy football. Was there an actual draft involved? Well, we so it's interesting when we work, we have little uh cards that are pictures of all the characters and we have magnets and we have a magnet board and we'll slap characters on the board and we'll kind of slide them around and we'll sit there and we'll argue and ultimately what we're looking for at the end of the day is what's going to give one one what's going to be the most surprising and two what's going to generate the most conflict and the richest storytelling.

[00:01:56]And it would have been obvious that uh Natasha was on Steve's side. And in fact, I think in early draft she was.

[00:02:04]The problem was I think we felt like she was echoing his point of view and so it wasn't giving her strong enough point of view on the movie. And then when we moved her to uh team Tony, it was it amplified her point of view on the film.

[00:02:20]>> Sharon Carter from the pulpit of Peggy's funeral uh says, "Compromise where you can." uh and where you can't don't. Uh could you guys recall a battle or a discussion uh on Captain America: Civil War where you were asked to compromise and and you didn't?

[00:02:35]>> I mean, that movie was probably the a tale of how to be uncompromising because we got in such a heated um fight with Marvel New York at the time uh over the direction of the movie. I mean that was famously the the movie Civil War started the Civil War within Marvel. Um and uh it was because we were only interested in the third act that led to a conflict between the two main characters uh where there was a risk averse um approach that was being proposed which was they resolve the Civil War conflict before the third act and then they go fight a bad guy. And we thought, well, we're we're dealing with an arc here that spans many many movies and um uh if we uh if if all we do is keep playing the same note over and over again, optimistic ending, expected ending, there's no shape to the arc to the to the uh overall um arc of of the movies.

[00:03:41]And we felt strongly at the time based on the risks we took in Winter Soldier that paid off that these risks would pay off as well and that they would play into a much larger arc for Marvel and be a more fertile territory for them to uh move into in um in the coming films. you know, the our movies tend to be very reflective of like what's going on in our personal lives uh in a very in a private way as well, but this is this movie is funny in the sense that it was it was also reflective of our process of making the actual movie in the way that Joe's describing. I think another layer to that as well, not only did the idea of Civil War scare parts of Marvel, um because we were turning Tony Stark, their most popular character in the MCU, into an antagonist in the film, but also the introducing Spider-Man within this movie was very controversial because, you know, Marvel, you know, Sony has the rights to that character. So the the character can really only appear in the MCU in cooperation with Son >> and there was no uh when we sort of conceived it creatively and started to execute it creatively with the writers Marcus and Mcily there was no there was no business agreement that we could use Spider-Man. So that became also a bit of a um a bit of a process where we really had to hold out for that character. In fact, there was a couple weeks where we didn't even come into work on the movie uh because that issue hadn't been resolved yet and we didn't know how to move forward unless we had the ability to use that character. So, it was it was you know there was um there was a bit of a yeah there was a bit of civil war at play through the process of making the film.

[00:05:39]>> Do you guys remember how Kevin told you that he had secured Spider-Man?

[00:05:45]>> Cuz I've heard this I've heard the story. Well, well, there there I remember the moment where we we finally got the sign off to, you know, so when they asked us to do another Captain America movie after the Winter Soldier, there was no concept of what that movie would be.

[00:06:02]>> So, we sort of went to work with Marcus and Mcily for a few months feeling out ideas. And um when we just, you know, we we decided that we wanted to do Civil War for a lot of specific reasons I can go into. It's like Joe was describing, we didn't have the sign off from Marvel to actually tell that story. So there was it was playing out over weeks and weeks and one day we were in the writer room with Marcus and Mcily Joe and I and Kevin poked his head into the door and he he just said civil war is coming. And so that was his that that was the sign that we finally got the sign off to go forward.

[00:06:40]>> Uh I'd like to take a minute to recognize Marcus and McFilly. round of applause for their contributions to to the four films that the Russas have done. The character development and the scripts um in that they've done it specifically in Civil War is unbelievable. It's still great. It helps the films hold up. Um and also the casting. This isn't a question so much as it's an opportunity for you guys to gush over the chemistry between uh Downey and Evans uh guys that you inherited essentially. And in re-watching this movie, it's uh the olive branch conference room scene doesn't work if those two don't connect on a on a level that's just unbelievable. What do you remember about their styles and and some of the thing what some of the early things you maybe had to do to to to see how they meshed?

[00:07:35]>> Well, that's a great question. I mean, we had been running television shows for a decade before we came to Marvel. And one thing we had learned in TV, which is, you know, um you get your reps in for sure in television, right? Like we were doing 20 22 episodes a season. um you're developing stories non-stop.

[00:07:59]Uh and when we when we would cast those shows, we get a great pilot and we go, "Okay, let's try to cast this like Arrested Development." Original conception for Job was an older, creepier uncle. And when we had the shape of the cast, we still couldn't cast Job because he kept coming across like an older, creepier uncle.

[00:08:20]And we went, "This is really not that funny. and it's not it's not adding dimension to the ensemble. And then we brought in well our net and there's this you know the braadichio and the you know the idiocy just added a layer of uh of richness to the ensemble. So, we learned that we have to adjust to the talent of the actor, right? And it's a long way of saying, you know, I think why we work so well with Evans and Downey is that we are we adjust to what we think their strengths are as those characters. I mean, obviously Joe Joe's interpretation of um uh Evans in, you know, the first Avengers is very different than our interpretation of him. and he shows a very d, you know, dynamic range in playing both versions of that character.

[00:09:08]Their chemistry really comes out of, you know, the fact that they're both exceptional screen actors and they really know how to hold the screen in very different ways. There's nobody on the planet who knows how to win scene better than Robert Downey, right? Like he knows how to stick the landing at the end of the scene so that he has ownership over that scene. Sure.

[00:09:33]>> And there's a charisma and a flare that goes along with that. Evans, conversely, also knows how to win a scene, but he does it by playing this character through subtlety and quiet strength, right? And he holds the screen in a very different way. Uh and that um you know the sort of complimentary acting styles really lent to the um uh you know the the tone of the movie and their relationship in the film.

[00:10:03]>> So often when we get a chance to speak to you guys uh for a press event for the movie, we can't talk about the back half of the film generally uh cuz we're protecting so much. So, I would love to hear what you remember about the conditions of Robert having to watch the footage um of Tony seeing his parents murdered because I think it's one of his strongest performances.

[00:10:24]>> He he was amazing in that. I mean, do you remember what we told him? I mean, he wasn't he we didn't have any footage for him on set, I don't think. He was staring literally at like a green monitor, right? And we were like I think we were reading off camera the description of what was happening.

[00:10:43]>> And so that was his he was reacting to it probably wasn't even one of us. I think it was our assistant director Chris Costali just literally reading the sides and he was conjuring that performance. But you're you're right like maybe the strongest moment in the entire movie is that push we're doing on him as he's watching his mother be murdered you know.

[00:11:04]>> Yeah. Um, and it, you know, for what Marvel was doing up until that point is a very dramatic shift in tone. Yeah.

[00:11:15]Right. Absolutely.

[00:11:15]>> We now have like a very popular character in Winter Soldier on camera murdering another character's mother.

[00:11:24]Like, it's a crazy swing, you know, from a storytelling perspective. But I think ultimately I mean that moment led to Infinity War and led to Endgame and the relationship that plays out between Cap and Tony and the fact that Cap is now off the radar and has that great entrance in Infinity War behind the train and you know and you know uh um that awesome scene where Donnie just loses his in Endgame at the beginning of the movie uh where he's come back from space and he's amazing.

[00:11:59]ated and angry and yells a cap. And so that that whole dynamic just I think emotionally fuels the next two m movies which is why you need to take those risks.

[00:12:10]>> Yeah.

[00:12:11]>> You know when you were asking earlier about the differences or or the chemistry between Robert and Chris Evans, you know, they have very very different styles like Joe was talking about. Robert is is very loose in his approach to performance. He wants things to feel fresh and different every take.

[00:12:31]He tries different things every take. Um Chris comes from a school of acting which is more technical and specific.

[00:12:39]And you find the greatest actors, they can have either approach. One approach isn't necessarily better than the other. It's just very personal to how people perform. And I think that moment that you're describing when when Robert was watching that video and like Joe was describing, hearing it read out loud, I think allowed him to sort of respond to something almost the way he would respond to another actor in a scene, somebody who was telling saying something to him, revealing something to him, showing him something. Uh, and that that was really how he got that moment was was just that sort of verbal performance wi with the script, so to speak.

[00:13:20]>> What floors me about it is that you can for comic fans, we we want to see the recreation of the of the moment from the from the cover of Iron Man and Cap fighting, right? But you guys spend two hours building to an emotional reason for that shot to exist. Um, and and those two actors put put such gravitas behind it. So, it's incred. It's not fan service in any way, shape, or form. It's it's earned. It's >> No. And that's why the movie was worth fighting for with Marvel New York over, right? Because the you were either going to get that moment, which is really powerful and we're still talking about now, or you would have got them fighting five super soldiers, >> right, >> in a a you know, a nuclear uh um bomb uh um um you know, set piece. like it it it really like they're almost >> it's incalculable how different they are, you know, and what they give the the fuel and the energy that they gave to the stories moving forward after them, >> right?

[00:14:25]>> Yeah.

[00:14:26]>> Just so for for anyone who doesn't know and Joe says Marvel New York, you know, there's a part of Marvel that is the custodian of the comics that have existed for decades and decades. And then there's a part of Marvel called Marvel Studios that is the custodian of the MCU.

[00:14:44]And for a while, you know, Marvel Studios existed under the umbrella of Marvel Comics. And um Marvel Comics had a big say over how Marvel Studios told their stories until this sort of pivotal moment of Civil War where there was a disagreement between the comic side of the company and the studio part side of the company and the studio side of the company ended up becoming the um the top authority with with the uh with the MCU moving forward. And I think it's worth noting you guys had only you had one movie with the company. It's not like you were able to you didn't have as much influence as I assume that you guys have now to to make creative decisions like that.

[00:15:31]>> No. No. And I mean but I think we were so adamant. It's interesting. Obviously the movie was a success >> and there was a ground swell behind Winter Soldier and it sort of creative ethos and you know it had like a it it resonated. But you're right. I mean we had to say listen then this movie is not for us. if that's the direction you want to go, there's probably somebody else who can do it.

[00:15:53]>> Sure.

[00:15:54]>> We're not sure we understand that story.

[00:15:55]And then once the directors, you know, six months out or five months out from production start telling you they're willing to leave the movie. Uh >> stakes get ratcheted up, right? Because that's a complicated story for the studio. They don't want to explain why the directors left the film.

[00:16:11]>> Uh and so it just started, you know, it started ratcheting up the tension. Uh and then it went up to Iger uh and uh we got called over our member and we sat with him and he was asking us like why we felt so strongly about this ending and um you know uh who we felt really was you know the the the creative engine team behind the studio. Uh and uh and you know we said look >> 99% of our conversations are with Kevin Feige. So, uh, ultimately he backed Kevin and and he backed our version of the story and, you know, now here we are.

[00:16:51]>> The rest is history. What do you guys think of when you see uh Chadwick 10 years after his debut?

[00:16:58]>> I mean, obviously it's heartbreaking.

[00:17:00]You know, we we loved him. We loved working with him. We did 21 Bridges with him after um uh this movie. Uh and, you know, he brought such an elegance to the role. I mean, it was it's an iconic portrayal of the character. Um, I remember when we cast him, he was in his car at a film festival and he was the only choice and everybody's first choice for the role.

[00:17:28]uh and uh he ran out to his car to take the call on speaker phone with us and we were telling him that he got the role and um and he was just so elegant his acceptance of it and then he was so committed to nailing the character. Anthony and I love working with actors, our favorite part of the process and we like to give them ownership over the character because they you get a a more resonant performance when they have ownership.

[00:17:56]and he he created that entire sort of world of the character, the accent, where that accent should come from. He was so specific in what he wanted for the role and there was that, you know, you see, he brings that fierce regality to the character.

[00:18:13]>> Um, and I just don't think the movie would have worked without him because he brought an intensity um to the tone that it that it needed.

[00:18:24]Um and where Holland was sort of the complimentary um you know goofy naive rookie character coming into the story. Chadwick was this graitas that you were worried that you know this this was not going to end well because he was so intent on revenge.

[00:18:43]>> Right.

[00:18:45]whimsical little detail about Chadwick is, you know, once he did find that voice for that character that's in the specific accent and all, he used that for the entire production, even even between takes and um offset he was he was using that accent through the entire production.

[00:19:07]Uh, I have to skip ahead to the um the chase, the foot chase, uh, where we first see P Black Panther in action. Uh, and and shooting that. Was that the most rigorous uh, set? We I guess now I guess the airport scene probably tops it, but >> airport was a grind only in that we did a lot of that on a back lot in Atlanta and there was a heat wave and we hit I don't know. It was like we're on black top, you know, cuz we recreated the airport. And then I'll get to the foot chase in a second, but um uh temperatures were clocking in on the black top of like 135°.

[00:19:45]>> Right. Right. Right.

[00:19:45]>> And people's shoes, the bottom of their shoes were melting if they stood in one place too long because we're on this black top. And I just remember we had Bettany hanging from wires and he was in that suit in this heat. and he lifted his arm to point and a little seam broke in the suit and there was so much sweat that it just started streaming like a fountain out of his suit. It was it was backlit stream. We got >> and we were like bring them down, bring them down, we got to um so that was definitely the hardest. The foot chase I think was the most exciting. A lot of that was shot uh in Germany and we have like a very passionate um we we care a lot about our second unit directors that we work with because we're we fetishize action and we really love how each second unit director brings a different skill to the table. And that was uh shot by Spiro Rosados who's like, you know, just a legend in the business, >> right?

[00:20:45]>> Um and uh he's really ambitious with the stunts and cabling stunt men that jump off of buildings and you know that the special techniques he used to get them racing at, you know, super speed through the >> Yeah. Bucky running over a moving car is always amazing.

[00:21:02]>> The motorcycle gag, I mean, the uh you know, all that a lot of that stuff is all it's all practical. and um you know the way that he executed it was brilliant.

[00:21:11]>> Some of those shots of the characters running because they are um super soldiers they they're actually on a piece of I don't know what you call it but it's basically a thick thick pad. We call it the magic carpet. Yeah. that's being pulled by uh you know like an ATV type vehicle >> and they're so they're running full speed on a pad that's sitting on the ground >> to create that sense of super speed.

[00:21:44]>> Oh my god.

[00:21:44]>> And how how fast they can run.

[00:21:46]>> Uh wait, did you do that in Infinity War when Cap and Tchala outrun everybody else?

[00:21:51]>> We knew we had that technique so we just did it again.

[00:21:54]>> Yes, >> I would as well too. Uh back to Chad just for a second. Do you guys remember the last thing that you shot with him on Endgame?

[00:22:01]>> The last thing you shot?

[00:22:03]>> What did it?

[00:22:03]>> I think it was probably the scene on the balcony at the end of the movie.

[00:22:08]>> Oh, was it? Okay. Yeah, >> the montage where >> Yeah, I think we did that montage at the end.

[00:22:12]>> Okay.

[00:22:12]>> I mean, the third act of Endgame was shot >> was also very close. What's that?

[00:22:17]Portals were also close. Portals was close to the last we shot the um third act of that movie.

[00:22:25]uh I don't know about 4 months removed from the rest of the film cuz we were still working on it and so all the stuff in the third act wouldn't last.

[00:22:33]>> Mackey told me a great story that he recorded the line on your left uh in his pantry uh in his kitchen because one day you guys called him out of the blue and you said we need you to record this line. Um it is in my opinion the greatest call back in cinematic history.

[00:22:52]Uh, could you tell us your side of that story of coming up?

[00:22:55]>> We texted him while we were sitting in the edit room. I don't remember who it was. It was me. It was either us or Marcus Mcily. One of us came up with it >> or Jeff Ford. I Yeah, >> Jeff Ford came up with the I am Iron Man line, but I think um it might have been Mcily who came up with on your left. Uh because we wanted something to announce the moment. We could feel that like if we just teased the moment that that excitement would start to build. Yeah.

[00:23:23]>> And the crowd. There's an art to the interplay that you have with the audience. And having made four of those movies in seven years there. We're in a rhythm where we understood how a pack theater would play with a line like that. So we just texted Mac and we said, "We need a delivery on this line. Can you just record it on your iPhone and send it to us?" And that's what we ended up using in the movie.

[00:23:46]>> We We do that a lot though with actors when we're in post-production. We'll we'll ask for a lot of stuff. Yeah. Via via their home recording iPhone.

[00:23:54]>> That's amazing. And he said he forgot about it until the premiere and then when it happened the premiere, he was like, "Oh that's >> Well, you know what's funny is we didn't need to re-record it with him because it was coming through comms. Our we were actually able to use the the recording he saw.

[00:24:09]>> I'm going to ask you a question that I have asked Tom Holland. Uh, and also Chris Marcus and um neither of them knew the answer to it. I'm I'm wondering you guys might not might not either. Um, >> time travel works in Endgame.

[00:24:22]>> Yes.

[00:24:25]>> Is Peter Parker responsible for his uncle Ben's death?

[00:24:30]>> Oh, that's interesting. Uh, I think we were we we wanted a a Peter. So Spider-Man was one of my favorite characters growing up.

[00:24:43]>> Sure.

[00:24:44]>> If not my favorite. And what I related to was this idea of a kid with incredible responsibility, right? And I think that you could manifest that responsibility through accidental death, right? And feeling the pressure of like and the sense of loss in your life.

[00:25:06]uh um in a way that would keep the spirit that we wanted and what Tom Holland is as an actor >> than if he blamed himself for his Uncle Ben's death. I think he's a very different character.

[00:25:21]>> So, in our minds, no, he wasn't responsible for Uncle Ben's death. And that would have been a a different interpretation, more more a more intense interpretation of the character.

[00:25:32]>> I like it. Very nice. Um, there's a scene in in Civil War that always catches my eye as a film nerd and it's Peter's last scene, um, where Downey runs over to make sure that he's okay and tell him he's going home. It looks like a pickup. It looks different.

[00:25:48]>> It was a pickup.

[00:25:49]>> Did you have a different exit for him for the character?

[00:25:52]>> I don't think we had an exit. Is that what a lot of times you shoot these scenes, they're so big. There's so many characters.

[00:26:00]And this is why we always have planned re-shoots. Always, always, we always know like you've got to do it in two passes. There's no universe where you're building the prototype that's going to fly, right? Do not get on a plane if it's the prototype. That's it's just a terrible idea. So, we know it requires layers and layers of paint to make these work.

[00:26:21]>> Sure.

[00:26:22]>> So, a lot of times we're trying to shape it, get the general shape, the feel of it, how the characters are going to behave in it, what the tone of it is, and then we start to sprinkle in humor.

[00:26:31]A lot of Rudd's lines were written in post. You know, get me an orange slice, you know, was part of the pickups. Um, so there's there's a lot of um uh uh there's a lot of stuff that happens in the edit room when we get a sense of where it's going and we go, "Okay, we're missing an exit moment from him."

[00:26:53]>> Gotcha.

[00:26:54]Do you guys remember the first time Kevin Foggy said the a word to you both?

[00:27:01]Avengers.

[00:27:03]>> I'll say this.

[00:27:04]>> This is like a backdoor Avengers movie basically.

[00:27:07]>> I mean that that's >> we tried to get him to change the title.

[00:27:09]>> Say, you know. Yeah.

[00:27:10]>> Oh, what?

[00:27:11]>> Well, you did. We tried to get him to call it Avengers Civil War.

[00:27:14]>> Really? Yeah.

[00:27:15]>> Okay.

[00:27:15]>> It ended up evol, you know, and that was just the way it evolved organically as we were sort of conceiving and and executing the story. It started to become again those these characters by that point by the time Winter Soldier we made Winter Soldier across the MCU there was there was just a ground swell of love for the characters.

[00:27:39]So, as we're thinking about, well, how do we challenge these characters moving forward and the most threatening thing that they could face seemed to be one another and a sort of a a divisive breakup amongst themselves. And so as that story started to coalesce and it became not just a sort of a breakup between Steve and Tony but a breakup of the family that they were the co-heads of the Avengers family that they were the co-heads of. The movie just started to feel like an Avengers movie. So in a way it was almost just like a natural progression because of how Civil War developed creatively and organically.

[00:28:26]Um, but the you want to say the exact moment?

[00:28:31]>> Yeah, I remember I think Lou called us in, right? And we we've been talking a lot about where the strike could keep going from there, whether we're going to do another Captain America movie or not or a different Marvel movie. And it's a love fest with us. Like, we get along very, very well with Kevin and Lou.

[00:28:50]They're two of our closest friends.

[00:28:52]Uh, Marcus Mcily was like a family.

[00:28:55]Yeah, it was a it was just a group of people who really enjoyed working together and collaborating together making movies. Uh and luckily we you know we we did it well and we were on a good run. Um and um and Lou said, "Why don't you guys pop by the office for a minute and talk to about something?" You know, and usually that means like, "Oh, there's a problem with an actor's deal or uh you know, and you're going to have to write somebody out of a script because they want to close their deal."

[00:29:21]Uh, so we were prepared for what's the headache today and I remember Kevin saying, "So, what do you guys think about, you know, uh, doing the Avengers movies?" Uh, and I can't remember, was it a single movie at the time or was it always conceived as it was two? No, I don't think it was like two >> eight years ago. I can't remember.

[00:29:44]>> I don't think it was necessarily two at that moment. No, that's not I remember.

[00:29:48]We always try to talk them into more movies. Always. I mean, cuz this the story ideas don't neatly fit into one generally. But um yeah, that was it. But you know what's funny about it? It was it was like Joe said, I think when we went in there was just like, "Oh boy, now what?" And but I guess when they said it though, it almost it felt so like >> it almost felt like we were already there.

[00:30:12]>> Yeah.

[00:30:12]>> In a weird way. So it wasn't like it wasn't really surprising or complicated for us. It was just like, "Oh yeah, that is the natural next step, you know, glad you articulated it." Yeah.

[00:30:27]>> When we got to go to the Civil War set in Atlanta, uh, a group of journalists got to spend a day on the set and walk around and and every department that we stopped into, we tried to get them to confirm that Spider-Man was in it because he had not been announced at this point. Uh, no. Spider-Man's not at the side. And then we get to the costume department and we said, "So, what costume has been the most complicated so far?" And the costume designer said, "Oh, Spider-Man without a doubt."

[00:30:55]>> Oh, Spider-Man without a doubt. We were like, thought that was one of the funniest things.

[00:30:59]>> It's so funny you say that. I'm not kidding you. Just this morning we were talking about something putting something in the in the script in the current script we're working on with Marvel and we weren't we weren't ready yet to communicate it to like >> the turn off the phone >> the the actors >> and so I said oh we have to be careful of costumes. Costumes is where this kind of information always leaks out.

[00:31:33]Literally, literally hours ago, >> you know why we couldn't talk about him is because, if I remember correctly, Sony and Disney didn't sign the deal officially until like a day before he was on camera or some crazy thing. Like there was a reason that, you know, we couldn't talk about it cuz it still could have blown up.

[00:31:55]>> Sure. you know, at the last second >> and it would have leaned heavily more like more heavily on Black Panther as a character, right? That's right. Earlier drafts had a lot of black >> Yeah. I mean, but the but you know, ultimately like the movie doesn't work without both of them because like I said earlier, there are different shades, right?

[00:32:10]>> Yeah. Um, Chadwick's bringing intensity.

[00:32:12]Holland's bringing this lightness and outsider perspective of like, you know, sort of like I said, like the rookie who, you know, can't believe he's playing uh with the 96 Bulls. Um, Chicago Bulls, but you know, uh, so you get that Oshucks kind of wonder from him. Um, and uh, and Chadwick is ratching up that third act and you're not sure that, you know, Buckyy's going to make it out of the movie.

[00:32:41]>> We're going to turn it over to audience questions. I want to end on this last one. Um, MCU fans always kind of assumed that you guys would come back at some point. Uh, and for a while it was rumored to be an X-Men movie. I am curious how far along you guys ever got into returning for the X-Men.

[00:32:57]>> We we never even discussed X-Men. I it was always Secret Wars or Die, you know, Secret Wars or Bust.

[00:33:05]>> Um cuz that was the first comic I read >> when I was a kid. Uh and that was the book I fell that made me fall in love with comics. Um and I read the whole run in one reading. A friend of mine had him and I just sat there for a couple hours and read the whole thing.

[00:33:22]>> Uh and so that was always the conversation, but the question was what's the story? M >> um and uh it took us a long time to figure out a story that we thought was worthy to tell cuz if you're going to come back, you've got to make sure that you know you're going to meet expectations and you know that was you know it was um uh you know Endgame was um so wellreceived that the pressure is enormous you know for a return. Ah, it's just another movie.

[00:33:57]>> Yeah, but I got to be honest, I feel like Doomsday is my favorite of the bunch.

[00:34:04]Uh, and I'm ecstatic that, you know, it all worked out because it's it's got something that the other movies don't have in a way. There's a there's a tone to it that is really unique >> and we have it right now, guys.

[00:34:22]All right, we have questions from the audience. Uh, first one, first hand up back there.

[00:34:26]>> Uh, well, first love watching the movie again.

[00:34:29]>> Um, >> my question is, you're dealing with such a large ensele. I think you're really blessed to this and of course your Benders movies and definitely would dupet. How do you handle uh making sure that every character is accounted for and that throughout the two the three-hour runtime they each have all complete part? Where do you even deal with that? You know, that's part of like the concept that we use of like painting in layers, right? It's you you sort of like lay a layer down, you step back from the painting and look at it. You lay another layer down, step back from the painting and look look at it. And um what we do, we have a process where we look, we love ensemble storytelling. If you look at all our movie making, even outside the MCU, uh we're we're often drawn to ensembles, you know, almost exclusively in a way in terms of the work we've done. But and we always say that, oh, that's, you know, we grew up in a large extended Italian-American family and we're sort of used to these sort of like mish mashes of of of personalities and characters and all that. Um, but what we do is we think about the story. We take a moment where we think about the story from every single character's point of view. So it's like you just you literally imagine the story beginning to end with in whatever way that specific character is intersecting with it. And it's just it's as if it's their movie like and that's it. That's the most important thing.

[00:35:58]That's the way we really figure out how because you how to do the most special thing with each character in every scene in the movie. Doesn't matter if the character only gets a scene or two or three or whatever it may be, five 10 minutes of screen time, you can still figure out something incredible in those five or 10 minutes. Um, and the way again the way we do it is just really putting ourselves in that character's point of view and intersecting with the with the larger story and the other characters through via that character's point of view >> all the way in the back. Yeah, there's a scene where where uh Bucky is wrestling with uh Satala and the ring gets close to the arm. I was kind of hoping you could like explain that reaction between the ring and the arm.

[00:36:46]>> No, I mean I don't know that we intended any reaction from it. I think ultimately that was just like to illustrate his strength, right? That he had comparable strength. Um uh if I'm thinking about the right moment between the two of them. Um uh you're talking about to Tchala's ring.

[00:37:09]>> Yeah.

[00:37:09]>> Yeah. I mean that was it. And the ring just symbolic in the movie. I mean it's just you know for us it was um it was the sort of the you know the memory of his father. So uh um if we if it was highlighted it that would have been the reason it was highlighted. How much of Cougler's film had you guys seen while you still putting Civil War together?

[00:37:31]>> None. It was after shot.

[00:37:33]>> Yeah. No. No.

[00:37:35]>> Okay.

[00:37:35]>> We Cougler hadn't been hired until I don't know, maybe we were in post-production.

[00:37:45]>> Oh, wow. Okay. Okay.

[00:37:46]>> Yeah.

[00:37:48]>> Yes. Right here. uh as a creative duo have when you guys don't see eye to eye or you have different opinions on things uh how you guys hash that out and then has that changed over the span of your your career?

[00:38:02]it hasn't changed. Um, and it's the same and we just argue it out, you know, like it's to us it's the part of the process that works is you fight it out, the best idea wins, you know, and we do it with everybody. I mean, we, you know, we're we really view the process of making a movie as a giant collaboration between a lot of people. It's our job to be leaders, but we like to be gentle leaders where we are um inviting uh creative opinions uh because we find ultimately that's where the best work comes from is when everyone feels uh like their their ideas are important and um they're contributing. Uh, and ultimately then, you know, everything kind of stops with Anthony and I and then it's, you know, more often than not, we're usually arguing our way through it. It's like high school debate club.

[00:39:01]>> Hey, can I have a follow-up to that? J, if you guys were starting off now and you wanted to get to where you were or where where you guys are now, what would kind of be the approach you would do uh to try to make it in business now?

[00:39:16]Well, I mean, I could I just default to like what we did, right? It's what do you what are you motivated to say, you know, and why are you motivated to say it? And then it becomes a question of figuring out how you do that. And for us, it was baby steps, you know, we started very small. We met we spent a lot of years in what you'd call nobudget film making. um where we were learning how to make films, learning how to say what we wanted to say, um playing with different ideas and trying to find through that process trying to find an audience for it and trying to find people to collaborate with to help us create those things. I think that fundamental process is the same. It's just how do you how do you find a platform for personal expression and how do you find those people who can help you shape that personal expression or make it more vivid or help contribute to it and make it their personal expression as well. I think that basic dynamic exists no matter what the specific circumstances are.

[00:40:29]>> Uh we have time for one more. I want to let people know um we gave away some seats uh to the screening on CBR and we said uh if you if you're in Los Angeles or can get yourself there and I met a gentleman who got himself here from Utah uh today in order to be here for this screening. All right. And he gets the last question. So go ahead >> make it good. I think one of the big things when any filmmaker works with a studio for a good chunk of time, it kind of known as like that they're these people that work at this room. And so, you know, when I tell my friends, "Oh, I'm going to go meet the Rooster Brothers," they're like, "Oh, yeah, they're the Marvel directors." Um, but you've worked on a lot of things that aren't Marvel projects and are, you know, very powerful, great films. Uh, you on the buying bossling nuts, seeing the Greyman was very fun. Uh, so do you see I mean obviously there's nothing wrong with working with Marvel this whole time, but do you think that moving forward you want people to start seeing you as you know very big and diverse directors that can do a lot of different things or you copy with kind of the the vision that people have of you is just their immoralness.

[00:41:37]>> I mean we can't control narrative, right? It's not our job nor do we care really. like what we care about every day is like how we feel about the things we do and getting out of bed. And if you're going to leave your family to go do something, is it worth it? Uh and every project we've ever taken has to meet that metric for us. You know, all the way from Arrested Development to Community to, you know, happy endings and all the other things that we've worked on. Um uh and you know we've also we came up under Steven Soderberg who is a chameleon and does all kinds of different stories like he challenges himself every time out he does a thriller then he does a comedy then he does a horror film and he does you know a drama. Um so he's all over the place.

[00:42:25]Uh and he loves it and he told us you know early on in our careers he was like don't let them pigeon hole you as anything. Um, and so you know, we've done comedy, we've done drama, we've done TV, we've done film, we've done commercials, we've done we've done everything. Uh, and you know, the the priority for us at the end of the day is self fulfillment, not community fulfillment. Like I can't I can't, you know, we can't dictate, you know, um, uh, your happiness, you can't dictate our happiness. Um, we love making these movies. There is a bond that we have with the audience that's unlike anything you could possibly imagine. When you can sit in a theater, an endgame on opening night in a packed theater with, you know, 700 people screaming like it's a rock concert. That's you're you're not going to get that experience making any other kind of film than one that is serialized and has a 10-year emotional investment in it. You're not you're not going to be able to generate that level. It's a crazy story.

[00:43:36]Uh I was at a dinner party like two years ago and this sort of sums up how we feel about what we do. Um, we like to we like to invite as many people into the tent as possible. That's the most important part of this to us is are you creating a fake barrier of entry, right? Are you creating an intellectual barrier of entry? Are you saying you better have a college degree to watch this movie or don't come in? We don't subscribe to that. We subscribed to, you know, driving down the street after a premiere and I was in India watching all the tuk tuk drivers go to sleep in their tuk tuks in between shifts and they were all on phones watching stories. And I thought, who's making stories for them? We have to make stories for everybody. Like that's that's the mission. And to loop back to this dinner party, I was at this dinner party and um Paul Thomas Anderson was there and I hadn't met I hadn't seen him in like 20 years. We met him at a Khan film festival. It was the first time he was there at Magnolia. were there with the movie called Welcome to Comwood and there's a lot of people at the party and I got there late and you know he was kind of waving across the room at me and I again I hadn't seen him in a long time and I was like waving at me or am I you know was looking around. I know his wife well cuz I did a TV show with her and he kept waving at me. Uh, and then you know at dinner he kept waving and then at the end of dinner he ran around the table to say hi to me as I was leaving and he said I just want to let you know that you know you got my son and I through co because we would sit and watch the videos from Avengers Endgame the theater reactions and it would just remind us how much we love being with people in a movie theater. And to me, the greatest compliment you can get is when somebody says that it fosters a bond with other people in their lives, right? And to me, that's what Marvel has done so well is that it's it's fostered bonds amongst family members and friends and it creates memories and you know um really cements moments uh in people's lives that are about community and being together. Um and you know at the end of the day there are a lot of people in this world who have different agendas and some of those agendas are pessimistic agendas and you know there should be room for everything and everyone but the thing there should be room for the most is community building you know and if um these big fun movies with the actors and colorful costumes you know generate community at that scale why would you attack these movies.

[00:46:30]>> Uh Joe, who filmed those audios reaction videos that everyone was watching on TikTok?

[00:46:35]>> I mean, those were I think that was just >> I think I think it was you.

[00:46:39]>> Did I do that? Well, what >> I think it might have been you actually.

[00:46:42]>> I I have some from from the theater in UC at UCLA, but I don't think I ever released them. Uh but there were some there are some great I mean there's some great India theaters where there's like 2,000 people in the theater absolutely going apeshit. Y >> um and I think those are the ones that like, you know, literally sounds like, you know, somebody scored the the winning touchdown, the Super Bowl, you know. Um and that's what I think is so exhilarating to people. And that's what Paul was reacting to.

[00:47:15]>> This idea that like you could generate that level of energy in a theater >> and that's why we come back 10 years later.

[00:47:22]>> Yeah.

[00:47:22]>> No, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[00:47:24]>> No, no, go ahead. to celebrate a movie that these guys made called Captain America: Civil War. So, thank you both.

[00:47:30]Thank you >> for your time >> and thank you thank you guys for the opportunity to to reexamine this movie.

[00:47:38]Um, to your question, yeah, we've we've loved everything we've ever made um both in the MCU and outside the MCU. So, it's just it's a it's a it's a thank you for this moment. It's wonderful. I also want to do I have um I have these um pocket squares that I made up when we were doing the uh press tour for Civil War.

[00:48:03]Um I had one made for Cap and I had one made for Tony.

[00:48:10]>> Oh, that's amazing.

[00:48:11]>> And like I think once one time Joe and I each wore one or I'd alternate them on different nights, do different things.

[00:48:16]But I um in honor of you coming from Utah and asking the last question, I'm going to get piece here.

[00:48:34]>> Joe and Anthony Russo. Everybody give it up for them. Come on.