There are very few people who understand the movies like the Russo brothers — Joe and Anthony, the film-makers behind the Marvel films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, respectively the sixth and second-highest grossing films to date. It’s not just blockbusters, either: the Russos also produced Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won the Oscar for best film in 2023.

This puts them in the rare position of having box-office clout and Academy Award recognition, marrying two worlds that seem to be moving further apart. “Like everything, the film space has become divisive,” says Joe, 53, the younger and more bullish of the siblings, when I join the brothers for a morning chat. “Everything is about who can be the loudest —