Marvel Director Anthony Russo Reveals MCU Jeopardized The Russo Brothers' Health

It's hard to imagine pop culture today without the existence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it's still amazing how the franchise has managed to consistently captivate its audience, myself included. Of course, we know all of the things that go into creating these cinematic blockbusters but a lot of us don't have an idea of just how grueling an MCU production could actually be. Unsurprisingly, it's not a walk in the park and you can take Avengers: Endgame co-director Anthony Russo's word for it.

Credit: Marvel Studios

Now, an excerpt from the latest Marvel book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (via The Direct) details the struggle the Russo Brothers had to put up with during the filming of the second-highest-grossing movie of all time. Anthony says that the grueling and demanding MCU schedule took a toll on their health.

He said: "All you can do, if you’re trying to direct that machine, is you have to stay ahead of that. The only way you stay ahead of it is if you don’t sleep. You get up in the morning, you get ahead of that. You go to bed really late at night and try to stay ahead of that. And that’s all it becomes. You’re doing that for so long that time just disappears."

Anthony also revealed that they had exercise equipment on set because their bodies had to keep up. "It actually took a big toll on our health. That’s one reason for the exercise equipment. Because I had this feeling like ‘Holy shit, man, we have to be in the best shape of our whole lives because we are only gonna go downhill, hard, from here.’"

Also Read: Avengers: Endgame's Russo Brothers Make MCU Return in Eternals Commercial

Currently, the Russo Brothers are taking a much-deserved break from the billion-dollar franchise and while we still don't know what project they'll be taking on when they come back, it's safe to assume that the directorial siblings will helm the fifth installment in the Avengers film series.

Meanwhile, Marvel Studios' latest offering Eternals will be hitting cinemas on November 5th.