Hot on the heels of the news that Black Panther may very well be one of two unannounced Marvel films set for release in the near future, the studio looks to have finally made a decision regarding the director of the upcoming Captain America sequel.  Back in March, a shortlist of names popped up for potential Captain America 2 directors.  The list was void of any big “household” names, and included F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job),George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau), and television directors Anthony and Joseph Russo. Gray subsequently took himself out of the running, but Variety now reports that the Brothers Russo have entered final negotiations to take the job.  Hit the jump for more.News of the director hire comes courtesy of Variety.  Anthony and Joe Russo have been enjoying success in the world of television as of late, as the two were executive producers on the comedies Community and Happy Endings.  The duo have helmed two features previously—You Me and Dupree and Welcome to Collinwood—and they recently lined up the hardened actioner Ciudad as a directing vehicle with Dwayne Johnson set to star.  With no experience in the big-budget action world, it’s a bit of a surprise that Marvel chose the Russos as their Captain America 2 director.  This isn't exactly a small property to be cutting one's teeth on.  That said, it’s important to remember that directors are chosen not only based on their resume, but also on their pitch to the studio.  It’s possible that the Russos have an exciting take on the second Cap film that landed them the job, and Marvel has more than a little pressure to up the ante with this next slate of films given the smashing success of The Avengers.Story details for Captain America 2 are under wraps, but the first film’s screenwriters—Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely—were hired last summer to script a follow-up.  In an interview with Steve, they said that they hoped to include a few flashbacks to add at least a little period Cap to the story, but that was early days in the scripting process so who knows what the story looks like now.  Feige told Steve in April that they were still figuring out how much period material to include, but he commented on Cap’s present-day situation:

“The primary storyline [for Captain America 2] takes place post-Avengers, Steve figuring out his place in the world. Tony goes back to Malibu, Thor goes back to Asgard, but there are a number of people who stay in S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve, for the time being, is going to be one of them.”

The Captain America sequel already has a release date of April 4^th, 2014, so the Russo brothers will most likely be hitting the ground running.  Production on Iron Man 3 began last week, filming on Thor 2 starts in London in a few weeks, and it’s assumed that Captain America 2 will be the third film to begin production as part of Marvel’s “Phase Two.”