Marvel's Kevin Feige Talks Scaling Back, Losing Kang and His Texts to James Gunn After ‘Superman'

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16 hours ago

In a nondescript conference room on the very descript floor of Marvel Studios (full size Iron Man statues, superhero murals and movie props) is a padlocked door. Behind that padlocked door is a white board featuring a plan for Marvel movies spanning the next seven years.
So teased Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, the producer behind the most successful run of movies in Hollywood's history, as he welcomed a select group of journalists into the same room where he first met Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch and where filmmaker Chloe Zhao pitched her take on Eternals.
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Marvel's run has been tested of late, this year especially with Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World, which grossed among the lowest totals for the company. But Feige isn't interested in your theories of superhero fatigue, which he doesn't buy as real. He pointed to DC Studios' Superman, which is doing strong at the box office, at least domestically.
Feige said he texted filmmaker James Gunn to let him know how much he liked it.
'I love how you just jump right into it,' Fiege enthused of the film, which Gunn directed after he helmed three Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel before decamping to run DC Studios. 'You don't know who Mr. Terrific is? Tough. You'll figure it out. You don't know what this is? Just go, go. This is a fully fleshed out world.'
Even if he doesn't buy the idea of superhero fatigue, Feige and his team have done plenty of post-mortems on this year's underperforming movies, and on all their movies since the massive success of Avengers: Endgame.
Right now, the company is prepping for the July 25 release of its latest movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps. It's the first time Marvel Studios is handling the characters, after a trio of movies of various quality and box office made by Twentieth Century Fox before its 2019 acquisition by Disney. There was also the never-released, 1994 feature produced low-budget king Roger Corman. (Fun fact: the four stars of that movie cameo in First Steps.)
One thing that Feige seemed to relish is that this new movie is mostly self-contained and is in a fully-fleshed world that doesn't require that dreaded word 'homework.'
'We didn't want to have the Eternals issue of 'Where were they, where have they been, how come they didn't help with Thanos?'' he explained. 'We wanted them to be apart from our reality so that we didn't have to say, 'Oh look, they were hiding over here.''
And highlighting a 1960s aesthetic was more than just a period piece choice. 'It was a unique aesthetic that felt like it could absolutely be its own world, its own reality' said Feige. 'And when we show it to audiences in the screening process that we do leading up to it, people just accept it right off the bat and feel liberated that they can just enjoy what's ahead of them.' He underscored, 'it is no homework required.'
In a free-wheeling discussion with the journalists, Feige, wearing a blue Fantastic Four hoodie and a Wonder Man cap, opened up on a range of topics, from what's going on with Blade, his future at Marvel, and the exit of Jonathan Majors from the MCU.
Here is what The Hollywood Reporter learned.
Yes, Feige knows Marvel made too many movies and shows (and the other things they did wrong)
From the first Iron Man in 2008 through Endgame in 2019, Marvel produced around 50 hours of screen storytelling. In the six years since Endgame, the number jumped to an astounding 102 hours of movies and television. 127 hours if you include animation.
'That's too much,' Feige said.
He characterized the time period after Endgame as an era of experimentation, evolution and, unfortunately, expansion. And while he's proud of the experimentation – he points to TV series WandaVision and Loki as some of the best stories they've made – he admits, 'It's the expansion that is certainly what devalued' that output.
Being high on success also may have pushed Marvel to readily agree to try to deliver more programming at a time when Disney and the rest of Hollywood were engaged in the streaming wars.
'It was a big company push, and it doesn't take too much to push us to go, 'People have been asking for Ms. Marvel for years, and now we can do it? Do it! Oscar Isaac wants to be Moon Knight? Do it!'' recalled Feige. 'So there was a mandate that we were put in the middle of, but we also thought it'd be fun to bring these to life.'
Marvel has already pulled back the amount of movies and shows it makes. Some years may even only have one movie. Certainly there will be years with only one TV show. Also, Marvel has started 'grinding down' on budgets, with movies costing up to a third cheaper than the films from 2022 or 2023.
Here's why failed (even though it's a 'very, very good movie')
The massive expansion into television and focus on Disney+ led to the feeling that watching Marvel was becoming a type of homework.
'It's that expansion that I think led people to say, 'Do I have to see all of these? It used to be fun, but now do I have to know everything about all of these?' And I think The Marvels hit it hardest where people are like, 'Okay, I recognize her from a billion dollar movie. But who are those other two? I guess they were in some TV show. I'll skip it.''
This had an effect on Thunderbolts*, which featured characters that were seen on various platforms, including some only appearing on shows before hitting the big screen.
'Some of them were still feeling the residual effects of that notion of, 'I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is,' Feige explained. ' I think if you actually saw the movie, that wouldn't be the case, and we make the movie so that's not the case. But I think we still have to make sure the audience understands that.'
Feige is staying put at Marvel (for now)
No Hollywood executive stays in their chair forever. Whether it's because of a change at the top or a bad run of movies, change is inevitable. And succession is a hot topic at Disney, and in Hollywood in general.
Feige was a bit circumspect on long he would stay at the company, quietly admitting he has about 'two years, a little less' on his contract.
But regardless, he stated his desire is to keep making big movies for the widest possible audience.
'Do I want to be making big movies for big audiences in 10 or 15 years from now? Yes, absolutely. That's all I want to do,' Feige said. 'Marvel's a great way to do that for me right now. But I hope to make big movies for lots of people forever more.'
Feige Addresses Jonathan Majors for the first time (without talking about Jonathan Majors)
Marvel faced several curveballs in the last few years as it worked on its post-Endgame phases. Yes, there were real world issues of a pandemic and Hollywood strikes. There was the tragic loss of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. And there was the assault conviction of Jonathan Majors, the actor who was playing villain Kang and seemed to be teed up as the next big arch nemesis for years to come.
Feige never mentioned Majors by name, instead calling him 'Kang actor' at one point or 'the actor' or just zeroing on Kang as a character. And, Feige said, Marvel was already preparing to pivot away from Kang before the Majors issue.
'We had started even before what had happened to the actor happened, we had started to realize that Kang wasn't big enough, wasn't Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be that, because he was that in the comics for decades and decades,' said Feige. 'Because of the Fox acquisition, we finally had it, and it was Dr. Doom. So we had started talking about Dr. Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. And in fact, I had started talking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious idea before Ant-Man 3 even came out. It was a long plan that we had, to take one of our greatest characters and utilize one of our greatest actors.'
Don't expect a live-action Miles Morales any time soon (thanks a lot, Sony)
Many fans have been for years clamoring for a live-action MCU appearance of Miles Morales, the Spider-Man who headlines the acclaimed Spider-Verse movies from Sony Animation. When asked where Marvel was in the development of a live-action version of the character, Feige responded, 'That is nowhere.'
And added that Morales' fate was in Sony's hands.
'Sony has their brilliant, genius, incredible Spider- Verse animated franchise going and until that finishes, we've been told to stay away,' said Feige.
being sharpened (again)
What's the hold up with Blade? Well…
'The obstacle was Ryan Coogler called and said, 'We'd love some costumes for Sinners.' And we said, 'Take them, man.' He's our good friend, take our costumes. We'll hold off on the movie,' said Feige.
Feige was, of course, joking, connecting Sinners to a version of Blade that was recently being developed, one that was set in a Prohibition Era, just like Coogler's original hit earlier this year.
Feige confirmed there had been four takes of Blade that been developed over recent times, two that were period, two that were not.
Marvel has now 'landed on modern day.' And yes, Mahershala Ali is still attached.
He didn't reveal a timeline for Blade but did say that he, and Coogler, have a timeline for Black Panther 3.
Tonal malleability is a key to Marvel's success (yes, there will be more R-rated stories coming)
Deadpool & Wolverine as well as the Daredevil TV show have shown that Marvel is becoming more and more comfortable with pushing stories that are adult-oriented.
But its characters can also appear in age-appropriate settings when needed. It's all a way to keep audiences interested and invested. That is how, Feige pointed out, you can have the Green Goblin build snowmen in Disney+'s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends but then kill Aunt May in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Punisher is another example. The violent vigilante played by Jon Bernthal is the subject of a special that just began shooting last week and will air on Disney+ next year. It is intended to be TV-MA.
But 'when Punisher is in the Spider-Man movie, it'll be a different tonality,' said Feige, confirming the character is in the next Spidey film.
Feige still likes the flexibility of going into production without a set script
The Marvel method of moviemaking has included ever-evolving scripts and heavy-lifting in post-production. Striking a contrarian position, Gunn, after working at Marvel, has publicly stated that his DC Studios won't begin a project without a locked script and a definite ending.
Feige says Marvel has never started a movie without a full script but also added that he's never been satisfied with a script the company has had. 'I've never been satisfied with a movie we've released,' he even added on top of that.
What he and the company like to do is 'plus-ing at every turn.'
'There's plus-ing happening every day on the Avengers: Doomsday set right now, and it is amazing to watch because what those filmmakers, those actors, both the ones that are playing these characters for the first or second time and the one playing them for the 10th or 12th time, are the best in the world at it, and know these characters so well,' said Feige. 'So if they have an idea, you want to listen to it and you want to adjust to it and you want to improve it. I wouldn't want to change that.'
Stephen McFeely is writing the script, but Feige revealed that Loki creator Michael Waldron is also helping.
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