Co-Director Anthony Russo Talks 'CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER'

One half of the Russo Brothers spoke to the HuffingtonPost about their upcoming film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Anthony doesn't give much in the way of details but you get an idea of the director's passion for the characters. Anthony Mackie (Gangster Squad, Million Dollar Baby, Hurt Locker) is currently the only new cast member in talks with Marvel. There is talk that Sam Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson and Cobie Smulders will reprise their roles as SHIELD agents.


On how they sold themselves to land the gig... 
“We were comic book geeks from a young age and big fantasy geeks. We got to talk to them in detail about that history. They knew that we understood the brand really well and the characters really well. It was a long process, actually, of talking to them over and over again, through a series of meetings over a long period of time. And I think they just -- we were really passionate about the movie, incredibly passionate about the movie. They felt that, and they felt like it was the right match.” 

On what appealed to them in Ed Brubaker's "Winter Soldier" comic-book story... 
“Well, we like the [story.] I can't talk too much about specifics, that's the way Marvel handles things. I can say in general that there's sort of a darker, edgier sensibility at work there that we found appealing, and that is going find its way into Captain [America] in the modern day.” 

On whether flashbacks to WW2 are possible... 
“Certainly Cap has this complicated history. We're making the movie for first-time viewers, not just for fans, so, because Cap does have this complicated history -- he was this skinny guy who became a super-soldier, he was born back then and he's living [now] -- in the storytelling, you need to convey that to an audience who doesn't know Cap's story.” 

On whether the expected heavy visual effects are intimidating... 
“They said to us early on in the interview process, "We don't expect you to know anything [about special effects and so forth] -- you don't have to know everything about this stuff, because we're here for that." They're very respectful of directors. They're an amazing company to work with.” 

On whether any comic book writers and creators have offered any advice... 
“We're actually going to have lunch with Brubaker soon. But no, they haven't been involved. In the same way that they would develop a new comic-book series, they give its own space to develop. But certainly everybody is aware [of what's in the comics], has read everything, is aware of all their other material. But they do like each thing to be its own, organic process, which is nice” 

On what from The Avengers would he like to interpret into the movie... 
“For me, what I loved about the movie, which is what many if not most people loved about the movie, were the character interactions, those great character moments. You have people rubbing up against each other in a way that's exciting and combustible. While all the special effects and the adventure, the thrill and the danger [are] fun, it was those character-to-character interactions are the heart of the film. So that's what [we'll hope to have].”