With Captain America: Civil War about to launch Phase 3 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, all eyes are on the prominent directors leading the charge. Since the Russo Brothers’ favorite superhero, Spider-Man, has already made his way into the MCU, who else would the directorial siblings like to have at their behest? Well, apparently, they’ve set their sights on none other than Wolverine.
In a recent interview with Collider, the pair discussed the influence of comic books on their lives, and mentioned their love of the iconic X-Men character:
JOE RUSSO: Wolverine.
ANTHONY RUSSO: Yeah.
JOE RUSSO: First favorite character growing up was Spider-Man, second was Wolverine. One of my most-prized possessions is Incredible Hulk #181. It was his first appearance.
Clearly life-long fans of sequential art, the Russo Brothers also said that they’d love to adapt more obscure fare like the Great Lakes Avengers and Groo the Wanderer. Later in the interview, the directorial duo gave a strong indication that a standalone flick for fan-favorite Black Widow (Scarlett Johannsson) was only a matter of time as well.
And while the Black Widow solo-shot makes sense, a Wolverine crossover remains highly improbable at this point, since the rights currently reside with 20th Century Fox. On the other hand, few fans figured that Spider-Man would be swinging into the MCU in time for Civil War, so anything is technically possible.
The Russo Brothers may not reside as high up the Marvel food chain as studio head Kevin Feige, but they do have a unique position going forward into the MCU. They’ll be helming the colossal two-part saga, Avengers: Infinity War, which will wrap up Phase 3. The auteurs also can claim a highly successful Marvel film, with another probable tally mark to their names after Civil War hits theaters. As unlikely as it sounds, its possible that they’ve built enough clout to convince Disney and Feige to barter for a Wolverine cameo at the very least.
Of course, it would take a whole lot of Incredible Hulk #181s to pull off a swap that impressive. We’d love to see it happen, though.
