Joe Russo recently stated he hopes his Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War will be the Darth Vader for a new generation, so we know that the Russo brothers are big fans of Star Wars.
So what did they think of Star Wars: The Last Jedi?
“We love Rian Johnson as a filmmaker. When we heard he was gonna make that film, we sent an email to Disney saying, you couldn’t ask for a better creator as a Star Wars fan,” Joe Russo told the Happy and Confused podcast (note: Disney owns Marvel Studios, too).
Fan response regarding Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been divided, which the Russo’s are well aware of.
“It’s interesting because he’s a brilliant filmmaker, and the response has been really fascinating. [These fans] are tough, can’t please them all,” Joe Russo said.
Anthony Russo continued with mention of what a lot of Star Wars fans have thought, which is that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is aimed at a different audience.
“It depends, though, on your age too. I watched the movie with my 11-year-old daughter who is very into serialized storytelling and novels primarily, but she loves the bigger stor. And she was just thrilled throughout the movie, making connections to the larger Star Wars universe. And just to sit next to her and see that sense of discovery and excitement in her was an amazing experience,” Anthony Russo said.
Joe Russo added that he thinks the reason for the Star Wars: The Last Jedi backlash is because of what the “old” fans were expecting.
“I think the fault line is between new fans and old fans, seems to be where it’s lining up,” Joe Russo offfered. “When you’re dealing with a character like Luke Skywalker, historically may be the most famous and potentially popular character in the history of movies… he took a lot of risks with the film… [Rian Johnson] took a lot of risks with the film. It’s a very smart film with great transitions, shot beautifully. So we were very excited.”