CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 Co-Director Anthony Russo Discusses the Film

We still know very little about Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie, but the title offers up a big hint of what we might see. Marvel is doing some awesome things in the comic book movie business, and I hope they can keep it up as they develop phase two of their master plan. 

Co-director Anthony Russo has given a couple of interviews in which he discusses the movie without really revealing anything. But it gives us a sense of what he and his brother are planning for the film.

Here's a rundown of what he told IGN:

On how working on Community will help with the movie:

It sort of came out of the blue, but [Marvel] were big fans of Community. You can sort of draw a line between some things we did on Community and a Marvel movie. I think if you look at some of the big genre episodes -- you know, the paintball episodes, etc. -- there’s a cinematic sensibility being explored there that is in the language of those films.

Marvel is a big company, and they’ve made a lot of movies. These narratives are connected to each other. That’s not typical for a feature film, but television people are used to that. There are seasons and seasons of a show, and the history is very important it, obviously... My brother and I were comic book geeks from a young age, and big fantasy geeks. We got to talk to [Marvel] in detail about that. They knew that we understood the brand and their characters really well. We were just incredibly passionate about the movie, and they felt that it was the right match.

On how they will handle the character this time around:

We’re trying to grow him as a character. Certainly, he’s come a long way from where he started in World War II to where he is in modern-day America. So the character has room for growth because of that huge journey he’s been on, number one. Number two, the appeal of these movies is the ensemble. Captain America isn’t the only character in the film, and there are other characters that are perhaps lighter in nature.

On if we'll see anyone from the Avengers in the film:

That’s something Marvel will shoot me for if I tell you.

The fact that Marvel will shoot him if he says anything tells me that we'll most likely see at least one character from The Avengers movie.

Here's what Russo had to say about the movie in a separate interview with The Huffington Post:

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 arc:

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 if we'll see any WW2 flashbacks:

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 working with heavy visual effects:

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 writers or 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].

Marvel chose these guys to direct this sequel for a reason, and I'm looking forward to seeing their vision explode on the big screen! What do you think about what Russo had to say about the movie?