Avengers Doomsday Directors Explain Filming Without Final Script

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters this December. Marvel Studios hopes the release will get the Marvel Cinematic Universe back on track after a series of underperforming projects including The Marvels, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts*. Marvel aims for box office numbers on par with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Endgame. To achieve this goal, the studio brought back directors Joe and Anthony Russo for Doomsday.

The directors began shooting without a finished script after Marvel pivoted away from its Kang the Conqueror storyline. That change followed controversies surrounding actor Jonathan Majors. In a new interview, the Russo brothers explained why they started filming without a final script and chose to rely on on-set decisions.

Joe defended the move in an interview with AP News. He stated that they are improvisation-based and rehearsal-based directors who like to see what actors bring to characters. The pair previously worked on the comedy series Community, which was known for ad-libbed dialogue from cast members like Donald Glover and Gillian Jacobs. Joe shared the following remarks:

“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.”

Is it a red flag that Avengers: Doomsday began filming without a script?

With Avengers: Doomsday fast approaching, critics worry that shooting started before the script was finished. While starting production without a complete screenplay happens in Hollywood, the practice often leads to disjointed and poorly plotted films. The circumstances surrounding Doomsday add to those concerns.

The fifth Avengers movie was originally envisioned as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Marvel retooled the project after Jonathan Majors, who was cast as Kang, was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Production rebooted when the Russos joined mid-project. Because Doomsday represents an unplanned pivot, the film will likely lack the extensive buildup of previous Avengers entries.

Another concern stems from the reception of the Russo brothers’ recent directorial work outside of the MCU. Their last three films—Cherry, The Gray Man, and The Electric State—received poor Rotten Tomatoes scores. Netflix’s The Electric State sits at 14% on the Tomatometer.

Avengers: Doomsday faces major box office competition when it premieres on Dec. 18 alongside Dune: Part 3.

Source: Polygon