As beloved as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, most would agree the projects that followed 2019’s Avengers: Endgame haven’t been as engaging as the decade-long build-up preceding Thanos’ arrival.
From the underwhelming antics of Paul Rudd and company in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to the intriguing spy plot that fell apart into CGI-fueled absurdity with the Disney Plus series Secret Invasion, something has been feeling off in the MCU for some time now. Sure, there were some highlights now and then, like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but in general, the Disney-owned franchise just doesn’t seem like the hit-making machine it once was. Given this fact, maybe a change-up in talent behind the lens would be the perfect thing to inject the superhero franchise with new life.
After all, it was not long ago that giving Elf director Jon Favreau the reins to Iron Man would have seemed silly. However, the bold selection of an out-of-left-field director paid dividends in the end. If Marvel took that same approach of seeking not only up-and-comers but just fresh directorial voices to the franchise, in general, there could be an opportunity to revitalize the MCU. Let’s count down 10 directors who Marvel could employ for the remainder of the Multiverse Saga to help recharge the once unbreakable comic book movie series.
Nida Manzoor
With Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society, a zany comedy with action flourishes was born. The film has quickly risen to be a beloved Scott Pilgrim-type borderline fantasy film but with a feminist perspective.
Centering on an aspiring martial artist who takes it upon herself to interrupt her sister’s wedding plans, the film does an astounding job of balancing its unabashed sense of humor with heart and some truly human-level storytelling. Those are all qualities Marvel could really use right now, lest we want more of Thor: Love and Thunder’s incessant screaming goats.
Deborah Chow
In the same way that Joe and Anthony Russo were plucked from relative obscurity in the world of TV to direct some of the great Captain America and Avengers sequels that characterized Phase 3, so too could Marvel sign an excellent creative behind the lens of some of the small screen’s best recent outings. Deborah Chow has proven herself a competent director with her episodes of Better Call Saul, The Mandalorian, and even past Marvel project Jessica Jones.
Now that Chow has handled the long-form directing duties of the entire miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi with a surprising level of care and sophistication, perhaps now is the right time for Marvel to tap her for a project.
Chad Stahelski
If there’s one thing the MCU is arguably missing right now, it is remaining grounded in its action sequences. As Secret Invasion has proven, Marvel just can’t seem to resist reverting back to a pair of floating superpowered rivals shooting energy blasts at each other for their finales to just about everything. But what would happen if you put the director of the John Wick films behind the wheel?
Though Chad Stahelski, (famously Keanu Reeves’ stunt double for a number of huge roles) has only directed the four John Wick films at this point, those movies arguably provide many of the strengths that Marvel is missing right now. By keeping budgets smaller and filming the elaborately-choreographed action in-camera much of the time, Reeves’ Gun-Fu antics can be more fun to inhale from one scene to the next than anything on offer from Black Widow, for instance.
Kathryn Bigelow
The Oscar-winning Kathryn Bigelow is more than just a critical darling that has given us some of the most compelling meditations on modern warfare in 2008’s The Hurt Locker and 2012’s Zero Dark Thirty. She’s also versed in a breathtakingly broad number of genres, to boot.
For instance, what better resume bullet point could you have for being a great candidate to helm a Marvel film than having directed one of the most beloved action movies of all time, Point Break? The Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze-starring film about a gang of surfers-turned-bank-robbers who get infiltrated by the FBI is a testament that Bigelow can balance big action set pieces with meaningful character meditations for a crowd-pleasing movie experience.
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig has just made history with the record-breaking Barbie. In fact, she’s even expressed a desire to helm a superhero movie as well. Why not give the Oscar-nominated director of Lady Bird and Little Women a shot at Marvel’s sandbox?
With Barbie, Gerwig proved her feminist-perspective filmmaking voice was not relegated to a niche audience. Plus, the director’s sense of visual panache, which in Barbie translated to the endless pink architecture of Barbieland that was akin to classic Hollywood musicals, we could easily see translated to the cosmic and alternate-dimension worlds of the MCU to great effect.
Dan Trachtenberg
Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey cemented the director as a unique action film visionary who isn’t afraid to play in the sandbox of a universe created by someone else. As a sequel to the Predator franchise, Trachtenberg did a splendid job of stripping the survival tale down to its essence after it arguably got needlessly complex with the likes of past Alien v Predator films, for instance.
In the same way that Marvel has found itself in a rut, just as the Predator films had before Tratchenberg’s arrival, perhaps the director can bring that same magic of reinvention to the MCU. We can see some similarities in Prey’s Amber Midthunder using her wits to survive an impossible situation in the same way Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark used his ingenuity to escape that terrorist cave in Iron Man. All we’re saying is, if Marvel wanted to do another survivor tale like that, they know who to call.
George Miller
Once again, we must point out the MCU’s over-reliance on CGI as one of the best arguments for enlisting the likes of George Miller to help inject some visual stakes into the franchise once again. After all, anyone who has seen Mad Max: Fury Road can tell you half the fun of that movie is the ridiculous stunts in it that includes people hopping from one caravan to the next on a giant pole was captured with eye-popping practicality.
If that wasn’t enough, Miller is also versed in many other genres besides action, like his CGI-animated Happy Feet directing credit shows. Since Marvel tends to work best when it can successfully balance serious beats with more humorous ones, Miller’s versatility could be valuable for an Avengers film in the future.
Antoine Fuqua
Director Antoine Fuqua’s career since the extraordinary breakout hit Training Day has only further honed his skills as an action-oriented director with the likes of the Denzel Washington-starring Equalizer franchise, and the Chris Pratt-starring western reboot The Magnificent Seven being two note-worthy examples. One of Fuqua’s strengths arguably lies in his ability to translate screenplays by others successfully into visual form. That’s the type of talent that a multi-cog wheelhouse like Marvel could benefit from.
Brad Bird
With the likes of The Incredibles and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol under his belt — two movies that would absolutely fit snugly into a Marvel plot if some names were changed around — Brad Bird just might be the ace-in-the-hole type director Marvel needs like what Joss Whedon was to them during The Avengers.
Even though The Incredibles duology is already a uniquely charming take on the genre, we’d love to see Bird return to the fantastical and heart-warming theme of friendship found in The Iron Giant, but set in the MCU. Might Bird be the perfect candidate to balance the humor, fantasy, and cosmic wonder of a newly-cast Guardians of the Galaxy 4 one day? Marvel won’t find out unless they give it a try.
Aaron Nee and Adam Nee
Last year’s The Lost City was the kind of action/adventure romp that you just don’t see anymore, despite how hard the Uncharted movie might try to convince you otherwise. For that reason, we think it would be worth it for Marvel to look into the film’s pair of brother directors, Aaron and Adam Nee.
Though the aforementioned Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum-starring film is by far the brothers’ most mainstream success to date, that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a chance at doing something in the MCU. After all, they could be the next Russo brothers, for all Marvel knows.
