Joe And Anthony Russo Producing, Possibly Directing Battle Of The Planets Movie

The Russo Brothers are planning big things for their lives post-Avengers: Endgame — starting with a Battle of the Planets movie. 

At their San Diego Comic-Con 2019 panel, "A Conversation with the Russo Brothers," Joe and Anthony Russo revealed that they are producing and possibly directing a feature film take on Battle of the Planets, the American adaptation of the Japanese anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman from creators Tatsuo Yoshida and Tatsunoko Studios. The project is housed under the Russos' new AGBO production banner.

Deadline had the nitty-gritty details for us. Also released at the panel was the logo for the Battle of the Planets film, shown below.

Created by television producer Sandy Frank, who first discovered Gatchaman at the 1977 MIP-TV conference in France, Battle of the Planets follows five orphans who come together to form the G-Force — Mark, Keyop, Tiny, Jason, and Princess. The quintet vow to protect Earth from the dangerous forces of Spectra, another planet out in the galaxy, and otherworldly threats from far-off realms. Their biggest adversary is Zoltar, a masked villain who operates under the orders of a floating head known as "the Luminous One."

Battle of the Planets used nearly all of the episodes of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (only leaving behind 20 of the original 105) after Frank secured footage and gathered up a group of writers to pen new stories to fit the Japanese animation. 

As of this writing, the Russos' Battle of the Planets doesn't have a writer attached. We're simply speculating here, but their fellow Marvel luminaries Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, the screenwriting pair behind the Russos' Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, might be good fits for Battle of the Planets. 

While it's clearly still early days for the Battle of the Planets feature, excitement for the project should be building already. The Russos are incredibly well-versed in the superhero realm — hello, they directed Captain America: Civil War and the final two films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga! — so they're more than equipped to handle the G-Force team with style and sensitivity, punch and panache. If they could collate all corners of the MCU not once but twice for Infinity War and Endgame, which were both equally action-packed and heartfelt, the Russos can surely do something just as special with Battle of the Planets should they climb board as directors. We can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Check back with Looper for future updates on Battle of the Planets.