The Russo brothers say they have no plans to work with Marvel right now, but aren't ruling anything out

• Anthony and Joe Russo told Insider they currently don't have plans to return to Marvel.
• But that doesn't mean it can't change one day.

"Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo don't currently have plans to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But never say never.

"We adore Marvel. Our time making those films is among the highlights of our career, for sure, and we loved collaborating with all of them there. We don't currently have any plans to do anything more with Marvel, but that doesn't mean at some point in the future — it could come up," Anthony Russo told Insider last month at their AGBO production studio in Los Angeles, California.

The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2021 that Marvel Studios wanted the duo back to direct another Marvel movie, but negotiations "hit an impasse."

Right now, the Russos' minds are elsewhere as they're prepping for their next big release, Netflix's "The Gray Man" starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, which will come to select theaters July 15 before it heads to the streaming service a week later.

"We are very focused on what we're doing here," Anthony added. "'The Gray Man' is an example of that, but we have several other projects that we've been cooking up with Markus and McFeely, real world-building projects, one of which we're gonna start shooting later this year. That's basically where our energy is right now."

One of those "other projects" is likely "The Electric State," a Netflix feature starring Millie Bobby Brown ("Stranger Things"), that Deadline recently reported the Russos will next direct with a script from long-time collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

'The Gray Man' is a project the Russos have considered bringing to screen since 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

The Russos' current project, an adaptation of Mark Greaney's best-selling series, has been on their minds for years, going back to their early Marvel days when they were working on 2014's "Captain America" sequel with Evans.

"While we were making 'Winter Soldier' we had not had a conversation with Marvel about what we were gonna do next. So there was no 'Civil War' and we were presented with this book that we thought was a fantastic read, really propulsive," Joe Russo said, adding, "We loved it as an exercise in action, really inventive set pieces and a, and a, and a compelling thematic lead character."

The first story in the 11-book series follows Court Gentry (Gosling), an ex-CIA operative turned assassin who's being hunted down by a former colleague (Evans).

"I did an adaptation of that book while we were working on 'Winter Soldier for us to direct next," Joe said, but then the Marvel offers rolled in. The duo directed a total of four Marvel movies, each more successful than the last, culminating in "Endgame," the former highest-grossing movie of all time.

"We got offered 'Civil War' and then 'Avengers' And, you know, it, we, of course, had to step away from the project and it went on a journey of its own without us," Joe said of the film's time at Sony Pictures where at one point, Christopher McQuarrie was reportedly attached to direct with Charlize Theron starring as a gender-swapped version of the film's hero.

Joe added: "When we came back after 'Avengers,' some of the writers had taken cracks of the script. We went back to the draft I had written, secured the rights from Sony, got it back from Sony, and brought in Markus and McFeely to work with me on the script. That's the current iteration of the movie that you see."

The Russos are working on passion projects and giving voices to other talent, but Marvel remains a constant presence in their workspace

Even as the Russos move on to other projects, the reminder of Marvel's impact on their lives surrounds them at their expanding production studio.

The downtown Los Angeles space is a fan's dream decorated with Infinity gauntlets, an "Avengers" pinball machine, and signed Marvel posters. A piece of art featuring the late Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther in the MCU and starred in the Russo's "21 Bridges," greets visitors in the spacious lobby.

If they were to return to Marvel one day, it wouldn't be a surprise.

For now, success comes in other forms.

The duo also served as executive producers on this year's excellent "Everything Everywhere All at Once," from directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, which is now A24's highest-grossing movie.

"We couldn't be more proud of the Daniels. We couldn't be more proud of the film," Joe said of the film's success, which AGBO provided seed money for the directors to write the script for the mother-daughter story across time and space starring Michelle Yeoh.

"It was a movie that they patiently made over many years," Joe added. "Our process with them was getting in a room every few months and just reading the script out loud and talking through it with them... I thought these are really explosive, very experimental filmmakers who merge absurdism and emotional in a way I haven't seen in a long time."

He added: "They started off as indie filmmakers and they reminded us of us, when we were younger."

After making the biggest movie in the world, lifting up and supporting other talent is one of the next Marvel-sized goals for the Russos.

"Our company AGBO was really formed for two reasons," Joe told Insider. "One was to give us creative freedom to make large scale movies that, in turn, provide a financial bedrock for smaller films like 'Everything Everywhere All at Once," more adventurous narratives, more experimental narratives, movies like 'Mosul' or 'Relic' that we've made at AGBO. This requires a lot of focus, this company, and that's really where our focus is at the moment."