The Russo brothers have officially been "Simpson-ized" in an exclusive first look at their upcoming appearance on The Simpsons. Anthony and Joe Russo are, of course, the directors of the recent record-shattering MCU movie, Avengers: Endgame. After plying their craft on such acclaimed sitcoms as Arrested Development and Community, the duo made the jump to the big screen with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They later returned to helm a total four Marvel outings - culminating in the aforementioned tentpole team-up, which saw all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe together to defeat Thanos and closeout over a decade's worth of storylines.
Though seeming like a logical endpoint for the colossal franchise, Disney and Marvel Studios show no signs of stopping. An official slate for Phase 4 has already been unveiled and certain plans for Phase 5 already lined up. As well as dominating the big screen, Marvel Studios will branch out into the world of streaming television via the Disney+ streaming service. Several shows have already been confirmed, including Loki, WandaVision, and Falcon and The Winter Soldier. The latter of which began filming this week, according to the show's star. Alongside that, Disney's huge acquisition of Fox means that such established shows as The Simpsons now exist under the House of Mouse's umbrella. It was therefore wholly unsurprising when news broke that The Russos had been tapped for a guest appearance.
Thanks to TVLine, however, fans won't have to wait long to see the popular directors in true Simpson form. Titled "Bart the Bad Guy", the episode is set to air February 23, 2020. The plot will see Bart inadvertently gain access to an early cut of an upcoming superhero film. The infamous troublemaker will then use his newly-acquired, singular knowledge as blackmail material. Unfortunately for Bart, his scheme will put him in the crosshairs of the film execs behind the film. The Russos will play those characters, declaring war on Bart in an effort to silence him. Check out the full image of the director's fictionalized versions below:
Rather than The Avengers, the in-show franchise will be centered on a group of superheroes called The Vindicators. If that name sounds particularly familiar, it's because a Rick and Morty episode featured an identically titled superhero team in similarly parodying fashion. The team in The Simpsons, however, will be part of an entirely fictional film. That film will also reportedly feature a supervillain named Chinnos - who, in another, extremely meta move, will be voiced by none other than Kevin Feige. As well as being the architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Feige was also recently crowned Marvel's Chief Creative Officer. As such, he will now oversee the comics and TV divisions as well as the movies.
The Russo brothers have a number of other projects in development. They are currently filming Cherry, which will see the pair once again work with Spider-Man actor Tom Holland. That particular cast will also include IT Chapter Two's Bill Skasgård. As well as that, they are also producing a Magic: The Gathering show for Netflix. Though it remains to be seen just how the episode will unfold, it was no doubt a welcome change of pace for The Russo brothers to serve a part in a production that they themselves weren't in charge of or otherwise overseeing. And the episode will no doubt offer as fun a take on spoiler culture as their own social media efforts to protect the secrets of their MCU projects.
The Simpsons will continue November 3, on Fox.
Source: TVLine