Russo Brothers: ‘There Were Early Conversations’ About Joining Kevin Feige’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Anthony and Joe Russo conquered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the record-breaking blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” (their fourth Marvel movie after “Captain America: The Winter Solider,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War”), and it turns out the “Star Wars” franchise could’ve been next. During an appearance on the “Smartless” podcast (via Total Film magazine), Joe Russo confirmed that the brothers had early talks about signing on for Marvel president Kevin Feige’s “Star Wars” movie. The project has since been shelved.

“We love ‘Star Wars,'” Joe Russo said. “Kevin Feige is a huge ‘Star Wars’ fan, and there were some early conversations about maybe teaming up with Kevin to do ‘Star Wars.'”

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Feige’s “Star Wars” movie was announced in September 2019. At the time, rumors were swirling that Disney intended to replace Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy with Feige, the key figure in launching the studio’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Such rumors were incorrect, but Feige was developing a “Star Wars” movie and brought in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” writer Michael Waldron to pen the script.

Waldron told Variety in May 2022 that he’d started working on Feige’s “Star Wars” script, adding, “I’m enjoying having the freedom on that to do something that’s not necessarily a sequel or anything.”

By October 2022, Feige had hired Waldron to pen the screenplay for the upcoming Marvel movie “Avengers: Secret Wars.” The 2025 tentpole will function as an “Avengers: Endgame”-style culmination of the current phase of Marvel movies. When Waldron’s “Secret Wars” hiring broke, fans wondered what that meant for Feige’s “Star Wars” movie. Variety reported in March 2023 that Feige’s project had been indefinitely shelved at Lucasfilm.

Feige is hardly the first major creator in recent years to develop a “Star Wars” movie that didn’t get off the ground. Patty Jenkins teamed up with Lucasfilm to develop “Rogue Squadron,” but she left the project over creative differences. The film remains shelved. “Lost” and “The Leftovers” creator Damon Lindelof was also brought in to develop a “Star Wars” movie to be directed by “Ms. Marvel” helmer Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Lindelof exited the project and was replaced by Steven Knight. It was later revealed that Obaid-Chinoy’s film will bring Daisy Ridley’s Rey back to the franchise and serve as a sequel of sorts to “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

“I was in more than talks to join the ‘Star Wars’ universe,” Lindelof told Esquire last month. “I joined the ‘Star Wars’ universe and was asked to leave.”

The Russo Brothers currently have no Marvel or “Star Wars” projects lined up. They’re executive producers on Prime Video’s new spy series “Citadel,” and they’re also in post-production on a new Netflix original movie called “The Electric State,” which stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt.

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