First Images of ‘The Gray Man’

Anna de Armas and Regé-Jean Page are also in the cast for the Russo brothers’ new action thriller.

When they’re not busy building their ever-expanding production empire AGBO, writing/producing/directing duo and sibling team Joe and Anthony Russo have been finding time to make more movies following the giant success of ‘Avengers: Endgame’.

And though they haven’t returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they’ve certainly been sticking with some of its stars – Tom Holland, for example, in addiction drama ‘Cherry’.

For new, big-budget Netflix action thriller ‘The Gray Man’, it’s Chris Evans who is back working alongside the brothers, but he’s just one of the people crowded into the new movie, as Ryan Gosling, Anna de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Wagner Moura, Dhanush, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, Regé-Jean Page, Julia Butters, Eme Ikwuakor and Scott Haze are all in the cast.

‘The Gray Man’ adapts Mark Greaney’s novel series, which is full of spy action. The titular Gray Man is CIA operative Court Gentry (Gosling), AKA Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Thornton), Gentry was once a highly skilled, Agency-sanctioned merchant of death.

But now the tables have turned and Six is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (Ade Armas) has his back. He’ll need it.

What’s striking about the pictures released so far is all the facial fuzz on display – at least from Evans and Gosling, who both seem to have gone for some sort of ‘tache or beard here.

Netflix has coughed up a healthy budget – $200 million at last report –for this one, clearly hoping that it’ll kick off a franchise to keep fans coming back in the next few years.

Plus, as they proved with their MCU entries (and some expert stunt folk), the Russos know how to make thrilling action scenes and interesting characters combine on screen.

Joe Russo adapted the script here alongside old MCU collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who worked with them on the likes of the ‘Captain America’ movies and the giant ‘Avengers’ installments they made.

Gosling has rarely been one to dabble in blockbuster territory, at least since his career offered the chance to do other things, and when he has, it has tended to be for the likes of ‘Blade Runner 2049’.

Evans, while no stranger to big movies, has usually tended to take on more heroic, friendly roles, so we’re fascinated to see what he does with the psychopathic Hansen.

Given the big names attached both in front and behind the camera, you might not be surprised to learn that Netflix isn’t just aiming to push this out on its servers – ‘The Gray Man’ will be released in theaters on July 15th, ahead of its launch on the streaming service on July 22nd.

The week-long release potentially points to the company seeing this as an awards contender, even if action titles tend to feature more in the technical categories.

Still, what we want to see now is the trailer, to get more of a taste of the action and drama on display.