Anthony and Joe Russo (Community) were largely unknown at this time last year. While people may still not recognize their faces or names today, most people will respect their work. They were the co-directors of Captain America: The Winter Solider, one of the biggest financial and critical superhero hits of the year. They are coming back to helm the third installment in Steve Roger’s solo journey and are busy working with the screenwriters on what the exact story will be.
With the release date less than two years away, they are nailing down the details and coming closer to a finalized script. There were some huge plot threads left unresolved from the last film and some dynamic new challenges that they are planning to throw in Captain America’s path. The most glaring thread to be picked up was his relationship with the Winter Solider. This is what they had to stay regarding Bucky Barnes:
“The relationship between Cap and the Winter Soldier was never resolved at the end of the last movie. Thinking about where that relationship can go is a piece of the puzzle for us for sure. That character is a wonderfully, beautifully tragic figure in the sense of is he the world’s most feared assassin or is he the world’s longest serving POW. Is he innocent by reason of insanity or the equivalent of it because he’s been mind controlled or is he irredeemable? Is he ever going to be acceptable to Cap again as the friend that he used to be before he was the Winter Soldier? These are very philosophical, emotional questions that pique our interest and definitely form one layer of the next movie.”
Many assumed that the final button scene featuring Bucky Barnes at the Smithsonian signaled a turning point for the assassin. However, it would be a missed opportunity to not have the Captain and Winter Solider go head-to-head at least one more time, before his memory is jogged and they come to some sort of resolution. It also sounds like there will be a lot of heartbreaking growth for Rogers as he comes to grips with letting go of his past and firmly accepting his place in the present. This is what Anthony Russo had to say about the Captain’s growth in the next film.
“As far as where else we want to take the character, we just want to keep moving Cap forward,” says Anthony. “We wanted to push the character forward into the modern age with The Winter Soldier, and we want to keep pushing the character forward. We always want to be true to who Captain America is, but we want to surprise people about where he can go and what he’s capable of. That’s about as specific as I can get about where we might take him.”
So while The Winter Solider story line looks to give Rogers some sense of closure in his past, who else might be added to the mix to assist him into his journey in the future? Last installment Black Widow joined the fun and it was rumored that Hawkeye was to be included at one point. Well a couple of days ago Jeremy Renner had this to say to Collider about Captain America 3:
“There are rumblings of Captain America 3. I don’t know what’s going to happen there. I’ve got to find the time, man (laughs). I’m trying to stay home and I can’t.”
It is hard to predict who could be involved from the Avengers’ roster, since we simply don’t know who makes it through Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, Hawkeye fits into the world well, but the Russo’s plan has to be on an even much bigger scale. They wouldn’t give away specifics but they did say this about who they were adding to the next film:
“We just got another incredible draft from the writers and are very excited about the film. I can’t divulge who is going to be in the film, but I think the fans are going to freak out when they hear about it.”
When you consider that they were ready to open their film on the same date as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Their supreme confidence has to come from somewhere. Also the third installment typically signals an end to a character’s story or larger arch. Here is what the directors had to say on the topic:
“I will say this: yes, for satisfying storytelling, you want a beginning, middle and end. That’s the natural arc that we all thrive off of in narrative. The great thing about the Marvel universe, just like the publishing, it’s a very vast, inter-connected universe, where characters will have their rise and fall, so to speak, and hand off to other characters. As the cinematic universe moves forward, you may start to see the cinematic universe adopt that same pattern, as the publishing has, where there’s closure with some characters and new beginnings with other characters. How those hand-offs are made is always part of the fun.”
Many have speculated that Marvel will try to adapt some form of the Death of Captain America story line and hand over the mantle to either a rehabilitated Bucky Barnes or to the current Captain America in comics, Sam Wilson aka the Falcon. However, it is hard to imagine that they would attempt such a move before bringing Rogers back for one last hurrah in the third Avengers film. Chris Evans is under contract at least through that film.
What is interesting is Russo is shedding light on discussions Marvel must have made about how to deal with actors who reach the end of their contracts. They have at least formulated a philosophy about how to handle their iconic characters. We know Marvel is not above recasting roles (Rhodes in the Iron Man series) and Marvel head Kevin Feige sees their largest cash cow Iron Man, as replaceable, in much the way new actors have taken over the role of James Bond over the years. It should be fun to see how the story develops for Captain America 3. We will be sure to be there to bring you all the details as they unfold.
The third Captain America film will be in theaters May 6th, 2016. Does this make you more excited for the next Cap adventure? Let us know on our boards, and !
Source: Movies.com, CBM, Collider