The Russo brothers may have sold their latest film Cherry to AppleTV+ after the upstart streaming service put in a bid too big to turn down, but the siblings have hardly turned their back on Netflix. As well as remaining on board for the rapidly expanding Extraction cinematic universe, the Avengers: Endgame directors are readying themselves to call action on the platform’s most expensive production yet.
Literary adaptation The Gray Man reportedly comes armed with a budget of over $200 million, with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans set to play the lead roles. The globetrotting espionage thriller sees Gosling as former CIA agent turned assassin Court Gentry, who finds himself pursued all over the world by his former friend and colleague Lloyd Hansen in a desperate bid to bring him to justice.
While that brief synopsis might make it sound as though Gentry is the villain of the piece, it’s actually Evans’ Hansen that’s positioned as the antagonist. Seeing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s former Captain America going for broke as a bad guy is something that doesn’t happen very often, and in a new interview, Joe Russo teased what we should expect from the actor as he ventures into relatively uncharted territory.
“He’s a really unique character, and this is Evans as a villain so it’s a really interesting character and I think he’s going to get to flex quite a bit in this role.”
The Russos have already confirmed their plans for The Gray Man to launch a multi-film series for Netflix, and based on the talent involved on either side of the camera, that’s the least anyone was expecting. Two A-list stars headlining a mega budget action blockbuster from the directors of the highest-grossing movie ever made certainly sounds like a recipe for success, and the first installment is expected to hit land at some stage next year, with shooting scheduled to kick off in March.