Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of Avengers: Endgame, have defended the MCU’s creative direction in Marvel Studios’ recent Phase 4 releases.

Following the Russos’ work on Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has found itself in an uncertain new era. Every MCU movie since Marvel Studios’ first release, 2008’s Iron Man, had been building towards the epic conclusion to the Infinity Saga that was delivered in Endgame.

With the Inifinity Saga now complete, Marvel has been tasked with finding a new direction for the MCU in their Phase 4 releases. This change-up has drawn criticism from some fans who feel the quality of Marvel movies has recently declined.

Marvel Marches On For The Russos

In a recent interview with NBC News, the Russo brothers were asked about some fans’ complaints over recent MCU releases, but the directors revealed their faith in Marvel remains unshaken.

Discussing fan responses to recent Marvel movies, Anthony Russo said the studio was remaining ambitious and experimental in their approach to storytelling and crafting new movies. While he acknowledged fan responses were likely to change to reflect each new release, it sounds like the directors still believe the MCU is moving in the right direction.

Addressing this question of maintaining quality in the MCU and how long Marvel can keep their audience engaged, Anthony Russo said:

“Here’s the thing. The entire life of the MCU has seen ups and downs, there’s going to naturally be an ebb and flow to how people are feeling about it based on the latest offering. But I think — look, at the end of the day, they’re still being very ambitious in terms of how they approach the storytelling. They’re being experimental. They’re looking for new forms of expression to keep audiences excited and surprised. It still seems like they have a vital creative code and process that they’re pursuing, so I do believe there’s still a lot of hope for what’s possible in the MCU. We haven’t lost faith in it, that’s for sure.”

While fan responses to Marvel films can be a tricky thing to gauge, especially in the MCU’s new post-Endgame era, the films are still broadly performing well.

With Marvel Studios recently experimenting with more ethereal storytelling in Eternals, horror in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and more comedy in Thor: Love and Thunder, as well as their new endeavors into the Multiverse, it looks like there are plenty of exciting possibilities in the MCU’s future.

Here is the synopsis for the most recent MCU movie, Thor: Love and Thunder:

The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Directed by Taika Waititi and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, the Thor solo film stars Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper.

Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters. Follow Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on the future of Brett Goldstein as Hercules, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: NBC News