It looks like the highly successful Avengers: Endgame might be the last collaboration between the Russo Brothers and Marvel. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the recent legal battle between Marvel star Scarlett Johansson and Disney has forced negotiations between the Russo Brothers and Disney to stall. This is reportedly over concerns on how new films will be released and how the directors will be paid, which are the issues at the heart of Johansson’s lawsuit.
Shortly after the release of Marvel’s Black Widow to theaters and Disney’s streaming platform (Disney+), Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney claiming a breach of contract. She claims that her contract was breached when Disney simultaneously released the film on Disney+ and in theaters, as she was guaranteed it would premiere exclusively in theaters. As such, she also claims that her contract allowed for a large portion of her salary to be based on the movie’s box office performance, something that a streaming service release would impact.
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Soon after the news of the lawsuit broke, Disney responded that the suit had absolutely no merit and fought back by saying they complied with the contract the two parties established. In fact, they claimed that the Disney+ release significantly increased Johansson’s chance of earning additional revenue from the film.
Now, it seems that this lawsuit is causing some ripple effects between Disney and other Marvel figures. The report from The Wall Street Journal suggests that one of the bigger effects of this suit might be the dissolution of the partnership between Disney and the Russo Brothers. The directors, who have been responsible for some of Marvel’s most successful films, seem to have worries over this lawsuit and what it means for the future of movies. This has led to “an impasse in negotiations [for them] to direct another Marvel movie”. All of this has also left the brothers unsure on how “their next movie would be distributed and how they would be paid”.
While no details were offered on what Marvel project the Russo Brothers were eyeing to direct, there is no doubt that it would have been a hit. The directing duo has been responsible for Marvel’s top two highest grossing films to date – Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. They were also behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, arguably two of the best films in the MCU. So, hopefully this isn’t the last we have seen of the Russo Brothers in the Marvel universe.
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