‘Avengers: Doomsday’ directors address filming without a script: ‘You don’t get...’
Joe and Anthony Russo have explained why they started filming ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ without a finished script. The directors behind ‘Avengers: Endgame’ said they treat a screenplay as a “living organism.” Their process depends heavily on rehearsals and improvisation, which can shape scenes after actors join the production. “We’re improvisation-based, rehearsal-based directors,” Joe Russo told The Associated Press. He said they like to see what actors bring to their characters, especially when they meet the cast only days or weeks before filming. He said that it can produce unexpected moments that would not exist on the page. The Russos therefore prefer a script that can change as they work with the actors. Joe continued by saying, “...sometimes you don’t get the actors until a few days or few weeks before you shoot them. And a lot of the time, that’s when the magic happens.”
The approach has drawn attention since ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ carries huge expectations within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film follows ‘Avengers: Endgame’, which the Russo brothers directed in 2019. Anthony Russo addressed another challenge facing the upcoming Marvel film. The MCU has faced questions about its recent direction, with some viewers questioning whether superhero movies still have the same pull at the box office. Anthony said they do not see their job as fixing the entire MCU. Instead, they focus on the specific part of the larger franchise that their movie covers. He described the brothers’ collaboration with Marvel as an intersection where they can make sense of the story they need to tell. That approach lets them focus on ‘Doomsday’ without trying to answer every question surrounding the wider franchise.
Moreover, the film brings together several major Marvel groups. The Avengers will share the story with the Wakandans from ‘Black Panther’ and the ‘Thunderbolts’, who now operate as the ‘New Avengers’ on Earth-616. The ‘Fantastic Four’ will arrive from Earth-828, bringing another universe into the story. The original ‘X-Men’ will join the crossover too. That mix gives the Russos a large cast and several connected storylines to manage. Their rehearsal-based process could give the actors more room to shape those characters during production. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 18 as part of Phase 6 of the MCU. The film marks the Russos’ return to the ‘Avengers’ franchise after their work on ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
