The Gray Man might star Marvel hero Chris Evans – and it might be led by Avengers directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo – but the two movies are pretty damn different.
In quite the departure from Captain America, Evans takes on the role of Lloyd Hansen in The Gray Man, a psychopathic former CIA agent who is tasked with hunting down Ryan Gosling's Sierra Six and will do anything – and kill anyone – to get it done.
Ahead of The Gray Man's release on Netflix, directors Anthony and Joe Russo sat down for an exclusive chat with Digital Spy, confirming that despite the tonal shift, their work in the MCU played a pivotal part in getting their latest movie made.
Reflecting on the thriller's beginnings, where it floated around in the development ether, Anthony admitted that his and Joe's experience on the Avengers movies had made them more suitable for the role – "without question".
Related: Why Chris Evans wanted to play The Gray Man's villain
"One big factor in what you're talking about… you know, through the Marvel movies, through the execution of all four of those films, we were able to develop an amazing team of collaborators who know and understand filmmaking on that level," he explained.
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Having made connections with "the best stunt performers", "conceptual artists", and more behind-the-scenes teams, the Russo brothers finally felt able to tackle The Gray Man.
"So, by the time we did get to The Gray Man, we had this amazing team with us," Anthony continued. "I don't know that we could have pulled off a movie of this scale or scope without that support."
The pair also opened up about earlier versions of The Gray Man, harking back to 2015 when Charlize Theron was initially tipped for the lead role.
Related: The Gray Man dubbed "disappointing adrenaline-fueled madness" in first reviews
"We weren't sure whether we were going to continue with Marvel, and then we did Civil War," Joe told us, with Anthony conceding that they were soon caught up in MCU commitments.
"We put this aside," he added. "When we put it aside, it was still owned by Sony. And at that point, I believe that they had approached Charlize about it.
"There was a moment where I think she was considering doing it, and then, you know, scheduling didn't work out for her."
Following their success over at Marvel Studios, Anthony and Joe were able to start their own company and later buy the rights to The Gray Man.
Praising their new movie-making partner, Anthony added: "Netflix... were willing to make it for the price that it needed to be made for."
And the rest, as they say, is history.
The Gray Man is out now in select cinemas and is released on Netflix on July 22.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
