Joe and Anthony Russo – commonly referred to as The Russo Brothers – are arguably best known as the directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Infinity War became the first superhero movie to gross over $2 billion at the box office, as well as briefly earning the title of the highest-grossing film of all time. But the duo are taking their MCU caps off for their latest Netflix project, an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag's 2018 novel The Electric State.
Starring Chris Pratt, Milly Bobby Brown, and Woody Harrelson among a massive ensemble, it takes place in a dystopian future and follows Michelle (Bobby Brown), an orphaned teen who goes on a quest to find her presumed-dead brother after a mysterious robot turns up on her doorstep. To coincide with its release on Netflix today, FILMHOUNDS spoke to the Russo Brothers about adapting the novel onto the screen, the star-studded cast, and the prospect of a sequel in the future.
So The Electric State is based on the novel of the same name, what drew you to this story and made you want to adapt it into a film?
Anthony Russo: I would say primarily the themes. When we saw Simon Stålenhag's book, the thing that struck us right away was this very interesting relationship he was exploring between humans and technology. It was a very intriguing relationship and his imagery, which we also feel is a strong issue in our lives today, has become more dominant than ever. Human beings are struggling with the rate of technological innovation and what that means in their lives – both in terms of how it empowers them and how it can threaten them and their humanity. That is what catalyzes this more than anything, but also there is this powerful relationship between a sister and her brother. The idea that this girl had been separated from her family by war, believes her brother is still alive, and sets out on a quest through this apocalyptic landscape to find him. That was a very emotionally potent concept as well for us.
When it came to adapting the story, did you have your own twist on the robots or was that all from the book you wanted to stay true to it?
Joe Russo: It was a real tonal shift from the book. We knew we needed to have a tonal shift with the robots because some are grotesque and very dark in the book. We also wanted to reach a broader audience with the movie so we had to make some conscious choices like the idea of an alternate universe/alternate timeline. Walt Disney created the robots and enhanced their cartoon appeal. It made sense to us that they had been designed in a non-threatening way because when you are introducing such a critical piece of technology to society, you want to do that in a way that achieves mass adoption so you want to create something that has an appeal to it or charm.
One thing I loved about the film is the designs of the robots and Woody Harrelson voicing Mr. Peanut took me by surprise when I first saw it. When it came to the casting process, did you envision certain actors playing these roles and being able to be these robots?
Anthony: Absolutely. You mentioned Mr. Peanut and Woody Harrelson, that was a very tricky role because one of the things we liked about the robots was the idea that they were created for these specific purposes: to sell peanuts and to be a brand ambassador. But he develops these ideas about who he is, what he thinks of life, and what he wants to do. He becomes this leader for robots to have more autonomy, to have a voice, so it is really important to us to have somebody who is relatable and has a level of folksy intelligence to them. We always imagined him as a bit of an Atticus Finch character and we wanted somebody that had intellectual integrity but also easy relatability.
That also leads us to a wonderful actor like Woody Harrelson. The same thing with Anthony Mackie, who voices Herman, who is a partner-in-crime to Chris Pratt's character in this movie. We have worked with Anthony over several movies and have never seen him do anything quite like this. Knowing him on a personal level and getting to understand him as a performer better and better, we saw he could bring something very special to the table in terms of how he can voice this character and he's remarkable in the role as well.
Joe, in a lot of your films, there is always a little cameo that you do. Do you know when to put yourself into a film or is that picked by someone else. Because you are in a prevalent scene in Endgame and there is a bit in The Electric State, did you choose when to put yourself in there?
Joe: Yeah, usually it's when we can't find someone to play the role then I'll just take it. But I always try to make it something fun for my kids that they'll get a kick out of.
When it gets to the end of the film, it leads it open for a future in this world. Is there any plans to go back to this?
Joe: We like building immersive worlds and the audience has to tell us.
Anthony: We're releasing a game a few days after the movie, on Netflix Games, that is a very cool expression of the world as well. So, as Joe's saying, we love the world-building and we certainly designed this world in a way that we thought could be explored further. But, other than the movie and the game, we'll see what happens.
The Electric State releases on Netflix on March 14
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