Russo Bros. Explain Star Wars and MCU Connections

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

If you ever wondered how the Marvel Cinematic Universe can feasibly contain both actors from Star Wars films and gigantic in-universe references to Star Wars, the Avengers: Endgame directors have an answer for that: it’s basically a massive coincidence that no one on screen is talking about.

You’ll remember, for instance, the moment in Captain America: Civil War (which is another Russo brothers movie) where Tom Holland’s Peter Parker suggests a plan from “that really old movie, The Empire Strikes Back” to take down Giant-Man like he’s an AT-AT on Hoth. And there were also continued nods to Star Wars in Spider-Man: Homecoming, with recurring references to a LEGO Death Star paying off brilliantly with a nice piece of physical comedy – Jacob Batalon’s Ned drops the Death Star upon seeing Pete in his Spidey suit.

So, it’s clear that Star Wars exists as a film franchise within the MCU, and Peter and Ned are fans. However, Peter doesn’t bat an eyelid when he meets characters that look like Donald Glover (who plays Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Samuel L. Jackson (who of course played Mace Windu throughout the Star Wars prequels and continues to play Nick Fury in the MCU).

What gives? Well, the team at The Star Wars Show on YouTube decided to ask the Russo brothers just that during a video interview, and the Russos deployed their expert skills in batting away a tricky question.

Anthony Russo said this: “they just look like those characters.” And Joe Russo backed him up with this statement: “Nick Fury happens to look a lot like Mace Windu.” Wow. Imagine that.

The host jokingly asks a follow-up question: is it hard to be a spy when you look like an Oscar-award-winning actor? And Joe Russo has an answer for that, too: “That’s how good Nick Fury is.” So, basically, the in-universe explanation is that it’s just a wild coincidence that there are prominent people in the world that look exactly like famous movie stars. Natalie Portman, who plays Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels and Jane Foster in the MCU, is another prime example.

Of course, in the real world, the explanation is probably far more simple: there are only so many famous actors to go around, and you can’t let a little thing like the occasional pop culture reference in a script get in the way of casting who you want to cast.

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