Marvel Studios has become fairly infamous for shooting large-scale movies on the fly, the films often undergoing major rewrites on the set from day to day, some even going into production without a completed script.
None are more emblematic of this than filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo and the pair aren’t afraid to admit it. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, the pair confirmed they began filming “Avengers: Doomsday” with an unfinished script.
The pair hail from a comedy background and thus strongly believe in improvisation, Joe Russo telling the outlet:
“We always view the script as a living organism. We’re improvisation-based, rehearsal-based directors. We like to see what the actors bring to the characters, and 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.”
This matches recent comments from actor Sebastian Stan who says: “We were just shooting scattered scenes. It’s a different way of working, continuous, constantly evolving.” Joe also says their upbringing is what allows them to deal with the large ensembles of these movies:
“We grew up in a very large Italian family full of colorful personalities. It was complex family dynamics. We all grew up on the same street; people lived in different houses… spent dinners together on Sundays. We were always interacting with a large amount of personality and interpersonal dynamics. I think that’s how we see the world and see stories.”
They refer to ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Secret Wars’ as “back to zero,” “starting from scratch” and a “profound shift” in the MCU.
They also cite Sergio Leone’s iconic western “Once Upon a Time in the West” as a particular inspiration for “Avengers: Doomsday” which arrives in cinemas on December 18th.
