by Jeremy Fuscaldo
Two decades ago, Joe and Anthony Russo were simply known for directing episodes of Arrested Development and Dan Harmon’s Community. Since the success of Captain America: The Winter Soldierthey’ve become much more well-known, directing MCU films Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity Warand Avengers: Endgame.
These films highlight the Russo brothers’ greatest strength as filmmakers: their integration of ensemble casts. They’ll soon return to the MCU to helm Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
In the interim, they have been hard at work helming films, shows, and other projects through their independent company, AGBO, which was founded back in 2016 (and responsible for co-producing Everything Everywhere All At Once). The company’s latest feature film, and the Russo brothers’ newest directorial endeavor is the Netflix-exclusive The Electric State.
Based on the 2018 graphic novel of the same name by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State is a sci-fi adventure comedy that follows a young girl named Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) trying to find her missing brother after she loses her family. She meets a robot who helps her in her journey.
The film is set in a dystopian ’90s version of the US in which robots have lost a war against humans. Michelle’s search is accompanied by a man named Keats (Chris Pratt), who sees humanity in the robots and has a lot to say about the industrial war complex.
At a panel at New York Comic Con, the Russos explained that the robots came to exist in this timeline thanks to Walt Disney. When he renovated them to become conscious like humans in the ’50s, machines tried to advocate for personhood, which led to the war.
Speaking to the film’s production, the Russos said their experience in the MCU informed their approach. They were also inspired by Robert Zemeckis’s style of filmmaking, since The Electric State It is opaque and features a large-scale environment. The Russos and Pratt said they all treated this film like it was their last chance to make one in this vein and compared the film’s time jump from the ’50s to the ’90s to the one from 1985 to 2020 in Back to the Future.
The panel’s audience saw a new trailer and a behind-the-scenes sneak peek in which Pratt and Brown show off some of the artifacts their characters find like Beanie Babies, Barbie dolls, and Cabbage Patch Kids. hhighlights from the trailer include Stanely Tucci as the main villain; Ke Huy Quan as one of the supporting characters; Anthony Mackie’s voice acting as the robot character, Herman, assisting Michelle and Keats through a desert landscape before attempting to evade capture; and Giancarlo Esposito as Colonel Marshall Bradbury (who may be a nod to Ray Bradbury).
The panel featured a special showcase of some of the robots who appeared in the film including Kid Cosmo. Pratt and Brown shared their insights on the film’s script and the behind-the-scenes shoot, in which Brown brought puppies to set to help boost morale. She said during the panel that she was grateful to have Pratt as a friend while they were on set. Pratt shared how the script moved him to tears and the story felt real to him.
With that being said, I don’t know how this film is going to perform when it is released in March. There was a nice blend between special effects and CGI that looked interesting and it was nice seeing one of the robots used in the film showcased during the panel. My hope is that the VFX team will be able to produce quality work for appropriate compensation following the vote to unionize in August and that their efforts are recognized in creating a world where robots and humanity co-exist.
The Electric State will be available to stream on Netflix on March 13, 2025.
Stay tuned for more NYCC ’24 coverage from The Beat.
