Anthony Russo

Early life and education

Anthony J. Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Vincent Russo (born July 18, 1971) were born to Patricia Gallupoli and attorney and judge Basil Russo in Cleveland, Ohio. Both of their parents are of Italian descent, with families emigrating from Sicily and Abruzzo, respectively. After settling in Ohio, they raised Anthony, Joe, both of whom attended Benedictine High School.

After high school, Joe attended the University of Iowa, where he majored in English and writing and graduated in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in English. He became interested in acting after a professor encouraged him to write and perform a monologue for his class. Anthony attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he also majored to English.

Career

Indie filmmaking

The Russo brothers wrote, directed, and produced their first feature film, Pieces, which they self-financed via student loans and credit cards. In an interview with Deadline, Anthony Russo said, "We were both in Cleveland and Robert Rodriguez had just made El Mariachi, and that inspired us. We were film buffs growing up, and his experience inspired us to make our own credit card film."

Pieces debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival and caught the attention of director Steven Soderbergh, who described the film as "insanely ambitious and dense... I was just very activated by how activated they were and it was clear they were grinders." Soderbergh reached out to the Russo brothers and, over a lunch meeting, offered to produce their next feature, Welcome to Collinwood, a caper comedy starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, and Sam Rockwell. The Russo brothers were part of the Directors' Fortnight lineup for the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where Welcome to Collinwood was one of the few U.S. entries and closed the fest.

Television breakthrough

After their sophomore film, FX Networks executive Kevin Reilly hired the brothers to direct the pilot for the series Lucky, having liked the pair's work on Welcome to Collinwood. They were also hand-picked by director and producer Ron Howard to direct the pilot for Fox's Arrested Development. The Russos suggested and fought to cast Jason Bateman for the lead role of Michael Bluth, despite studio skepticism toward Bateman.

In an interview with /Film, producer Dan Harmon, who hired the Russos to direct the pilot of his TV series Community, praised the Russos' ability to spot talent and cast based on character regardless of status in the industry. He credits the Russo brothers with the idea to cast Donald Glover on the NBC sitcom, calling the brothers "geniuses in casting." The brothers directed 34 episodes of Community, including A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For a Few Paintballs More," which served as the season two finale and received critical acclaim. Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx described the Russo brothers' installment as "nothing short of The Godfather Part II of sitcom episodes".

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Their success with Arrested Development and Community put the Russo brothers on the radar of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who brought them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2014, the Russo brothers directed their first film for Marvel Studios, the action espionage thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier starring Chris Evans as Captain America. The brothers were in the running against nine other directors to helm the film, which was the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), directed by Joe Johnston.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joe Russo explained that they were given the script and "fell in love" with the movie, creating storyboards, rewriting scenes, and presenting an animatic to Marvel to get the job. The brothers noted The French Connection, Black Friday, Three Days of the Condor and All the President's Men as their influences in tone and style. The movie was a box office success and received critical acclaim, with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praising its tackling of serious subject matter and comparing it favorably to The Dark Knight (2008). The film was a financial success earning $714 million worldwide.

The Russo brothers returned to the MCU with Captain America: Civil War (2016), the success of which got them hired on their highest profile projects to date: Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Infinity War would become the first superhero movie to gross over $2 billion at the box office. Endgame was the second superhero movie to surpass that same target, earning $2.799 billion in global box office. After breaking numerous box office records, the Russo brothers joined James Cameron as the only directors to make two films that each earned over $2 billion.

AGBO, criticisms, and return to Marvel

In 2017, the Russo brothers founded their production company, AGBO with producing partner Mike Larocca. The following year, the brothers' longtime Marvel film collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely joined AGBO as Co-Presidents of Story. The brothers made it a part of AGBO's mission to "support emerging talent and foster their creativity," saying they wanted to pay forward the kind of mentorship that Steven Soderbergh had given them by supporting the directorial efforts of emerging creative voices. Feature directorial debuts supported by AGBO and produced by the Russo brothers include Mosul (2019) by writer Matthew Michael Carnahan and Relic (2020) by director Natalie Erika James.

Another first-time filmmaker supported by the Russo brothers via AGBO was their long-time collaborator, Sam Hargrave, who directed Extraction (2020), starring Chris Hemsworth. Joe Russo adapted the film from Ciudad, a graphic novel he wrote with his brother and Ande Parks. Extraction went on to be the most-watched original film in Netflix's history. This film would spawn a sequel, Extraction 2 (2023), which Joe Russo also wrote. A third installment was announced in 2023, and is set to begin production in 2025. The Netflix series Mercenary: An Extraction Series began filming in Ireland and Morocco in December 2025.

In 2019, the Russo brothers reunited with Marvel alumnus Chadwick Boseman when they produced the action-thriller 21 Bridges. The brothers had approached Boseman about the film at the premiere of Infinity War. Around this time, the Russo brothers also executive produced AGBO's first documentary series, Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy.

After the release of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers made a creative pivot to drama, directing the Apple TV+ film Cherry (2021), which was co-written by their sister, Angela Russo-Otstot. The film explores the opioid epidemic through the lens of a war veteran with PTSD played by Tom Holland. Anthony Russo said the film was personal for the brothers, as they have family members who have suffered and died from opioid addiction. The Russo brothers then turned their focus back to blockbuster action by directing the Netflix's The Gray Man (2022) starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Both Cherry and The Gray Man received negative reviews from critics.

Unrealized Projects

Ghostbusters spin-off

In 2015, it was announced that the Russo brothers would direct a Ghostbusters spin-off film based on a pitch by them, Channing Tatum, and Reid Carolin. Tatum was intended to star with Chris Pratt being considered for a co-leading role. Drew Pearce would write the screenplay while original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman was intended to produce. It was originally set to be developed simultaneously alongside Paul Feig's 2016 reboot. The Russo brothers departed the project a year later due to commitments to Avengers: Infinity War.

MGM franchise reboots

In April 2019, it was announced that AGBO and MGM made a deal to collaborate to develop remakes and reboots of films owned by MGM with the Russo brothers acting as "spiritual creative architects." It was reported that the Russos would develop and potentially direct reboots of Poltergeist, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Secret of NIMH.

Live-Action Battle of the Planets film

In 2019, the Russo brothers announced that they would produce and potentially direct a live-action film adaptation of the science fiction anime series Battle of the Planets. In 2021, screenwriter Daniel Casey was hired to write the script. The film remains in development as of 2022.

Untitled Star Wars film

In 2019, it was reported that Kevin Feige was developing a standalone Star Wars film. Michael Waldron was set to write the screenplay as part of a first-look deal with Disney. In 2023, the Russo brothers confirmed they had early talks to helm the project before it was shelved that same year.

Untitled experimental musical

While promoting The Gray Man in 2022, the Russo brothers expressed interest in directing an experimental musical film. They talked to multiple artists about such a project, including The Weeknd, with Joe Russo citing his 2021 Super Bowl halftime show as a source of inspiration.

Recurring collaborators

Throughout the brothers' careers in television and film, they have consistently collaborated with many of the same actors and filmmakers. Their most prolific creative partners are screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who wrote all four of the Russo-directed Marvel films (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), as well as The Gray Man and The Electric State. Markus and McFeely currently serve as Co-Presidents of story at AGBO. Their sister Angela Russo-Otstot, a producer and screenwriter, is also a key creative partner. She has worked on numerous AGBO projects and serves as the company's Chief Creative Officer, overseeing development across film and television.

On the filmmaking side, the Russos have repeatedly partnered with casting director Sarah Finn, who worked on all four Marvel films, as well as AGBO projects such as Mosul, Extraction, Cherry, The Electric State, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Musically, they have worked with composer Alan Silvestri on Infinity War, Endgame, and The Electric State, and frequently collaborate with composer Henry Jackman (Winter Soldier, Civil War, Cherry, The Bluff). Stunt coordinator-turned-director Sam Hargrave began his work with the Russos as Chris Evans' stunt double, and was elevated to 2nd unit director on Marvel films before making his directorial debut with Extraction and Extraction 2 under the AGBO banner.

Accolades

In 2004, Anthony and Joe Russo won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the pilot episode of Arrested Development.

In 2015, 2017 and 2019, they were nominated jointly for the Saturn Award for Best Director for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame, respectively. In 2015, 2019 and 2020, they were nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, respectively. All nominations were shared with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They received Dragon Award nominations for "Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie" for Captain America: Civil War in 2016 and for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018. The brothers won the Dragon Award in that category for Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

On February 21, 2025, the Russo brothers were honored with the handprint and footprint ceremony in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. They were joined by family, friends and colleagues Chris Pratt, Yvette Nicole Brown and Alison Brie.

Business interests

In January 2025, Joe Russo was announced as a board member and investor of English football club Sheffield United. The club was taken over by the consortium group COH Sports led by fellow American businessmen Steve Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy. Joe was joined on the board of directors by former Cleveland Cavaliers CEO Len Komoroski and real estate figure Terry Ahern.

Filmography

Film

Uncredited directors

Ant-Man (2015) (Post-credits scene)

Captain Marvel (2019) (Mid-credits scene)

Thunderbolts* (2025) (Post-credits scene)

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) (Mid-credits scene)

Television

Other

Fortnite Battle Royale - Chapter 2, Season 6 opening cinematic (co-directed, March 2021).