Screen Junkies’ Honest Trailers series is in the business of mercilessly ripping apart movies for their plot holes and creative choices. But the guys behind the YouTube series decided to rather bravely sit down and watch the Honest Trailer for Captain America: The Winter Solider alongside the two men responsible for the film, directors Anthony and Joe Russo. While you might assume the 13-minute interview would be slightly awkward, it turns out the Russo brothers actually have Honest Trailers to thank for Winter Soldier’s success. As the Russos reveal, they specifically set out to make a film that was “Honest Trailer-proof,” which was a phrase they used while working on the script. Or as Joe puts it, he would frequently tell his screenwriters, “I’m not gonna fucking let Honest Trailers beat us up over this lapse in logic. So we’re gonna fix this story point.”
They’re good sports about the entire thing, regularly interjecting their own commentary on top of the Honest Trailers’ snarky jokes. They also talk about making the film in general, from their desire to make Captain America relevant to modern audiences to their decision to keep the relationship between Black Widow and Cap platonic. Plus they admit that Honest Trailers’ critique of Bucky’s surprise return is their “best nitpick” and maybe even “a little more than a nitpick.”
Overall the Russo’s continue their streak of being cool, likable dudes. Which is similarly the case for Thor writer Zack Stentz, who also sat down with Screen Junkies to watch his own Honest Trailer too.