The Summer of Kevin Feige
The Summer of Kevin Feige
Kevin Feige’s having a great summer. It’s hard to deny that, right now, Disney is king of the hill when it comes to blockbusters. And leading a large part of that charge is Kevin Feige, the driving force behind the box office juggernaut that is the MCU. This summer is something of a transition period for Feige and Marvel as they pivot from closing out the first saga that began with Iron Man back in 2008 and start working on what’s coming next for the MCU.
But it’s hard to dispute that Feige has earned his victory lap this summer. Just three months ago Avengers: Endgame released and made all the money. Last I checked, Endgame was sitting at $2.772 billion. In addition to its financial success, it also marks the creative culmination of more than 20 movies, thousands of cast, writers, directs, and crew. The MCU has defined a generation of not just comic book films, but films in general. But the end of the Infinity saga leaves us in a strange situation. For the first time in years, MCU fans don’t know what’s coming. With Spiderman: Far From Home closing out the post-Endgame storyline, we’re left wondering where we’ll go from here. And that, coupled with upcoming fan events leaves Feige in a powerful position. He has both the opportunity and task of laying out where we go from here, and doing it in a way that capitalizes on the massive fanbase and speculation and energy that brings.
First up is San Diego Comic Con, in which today (July 20) is the final day, where Feige will showcase the big event, Hall H. We already know we’re getting The Eternals and Thor 4, with Taika Waititi at the helm. But the rest of Marvel’s movie slate is still a mystery. While it’s still likely we’re years away from seeing the X-Men, Fantastic Four, or Deadpool show up in an MCU movie, fans are still excited to see what’s coming up next, both for the current slate of MCU heroes, in addition to hoping to learn of casting choices for upcoming heroes. Even movie titles, if released, would fuel fan speculation on where we’re going from here.
**Post Comic Con Edit** Well, we got our look at what’s ahead for 2020 and 2021 in the MCU. Kevin Feige brought down the house. We got dates and now have a roadmap of where we’re going from here, beginning with Black Widow, due to be released May 1st, 2020. Of particular interest was the information that Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness would also star Elisabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. Considering Doctor Strange is set to release shortly after the first season of WandaVision premiers on Disney+, and we’ve been told it will be a weird trip of a show, it seems the MCU is about to get a lot more complicated.
Also, Thor: Love and Thunder is just about the greatest title for a movie I’ve ever seen. We’ll also be getting Natalie Portman as Lady Thor. In addition, our favorite Norse trickster will be getting his own series. Loki will cover the shenanigans of Thor’s mischievous brother who we saw teleport away in the 2012 timeline during Endgame.
The Eternals and Shang-Chi are new territory for the MCU, and it will be interesting to see where they will lead us during the next phase. The Eternals were connected to the origins of mutants in the original comics, so that could be one possible avenue of laying the foundation for the X-Men down the line, as could WandaVision and The Multiverse of Nightmares, in a sort of reverse House of M situation.
At the end of the panel, Feige set the internet on fire by dropping a quick roundup of what’s coming after these confirmed film dates, namely Fantastic Four and Blade (with the great Mahershala Ali as the lead). He also said the mutants are coming as well.
One worrying thought I and many other online had was that if Mahershala Ali will be taking on the mantle of Blade, after having played Cottonmouth in season one of Netflix’s Luke Cage, does that in effect render the Netflix Marvel shows as non-canonical? If so that would be a shame, as Charlie Cox, Mike Colter, Krysten Ritter, and Jon Bernthal, and everyone else, were wonderfully cast and brought a lot of passion to their roles. Could this possibly mean that we will know once and for all that the MCU is indeed separate from the TV shows? I’m personally hoping to see a few of these actors reprise their roles again in the MCU, either in a film or on Disney+.
As for Fantastic Four, I am looking forward to hearing casting for who will play the four. While I’m open to ideas on Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm, I really do think John Krasinski is the only real choice for Reed Richards. I mean, have you seen how he’s been drawn recently in the War of the Realms comics?
Tell me that doesn't look like Krasinski. I dare you. There’s plenty of time for more posts about casting wishes or looking at who Marvel does actually go on to cast as time goes on though. So stay tuned for those articles.
Part Two of Feige’s big road map may include D23, the Disney expo that will be held August 23-26. While the expo will cover the range of Disney franchises, it’s a safe bet Marvel will play a large role in Disney’s plans for future expansion, what with the acquisition of Fox properties such as X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool. I believe D23 will also feature Disney+, Disney’s upcoming streaming service. It’s a safe bet if that happens that Feige will discuss the importance of the Disney+ Marvel series in the works, with series in the works for Loki, Vision and Scarlet Witch, and Falcon and Winter Soldier, as well as a Hawkeye miniseries. These series will be important platforms for moving the MCU plot forward in between and in addition to the movie releases. Having announced them at Comic Con in the schedule along with the films goes to show that these streaming shows will be an important part of the MCU going forward.
To sort of switch from relaying the latest MCU news and go a little into why the MCU is so successful, let’s look at Kevin feige and what makes his helming of the MCU different than some of his competitors.
The main ingredient that has made Feige so successful, in my opinion, in a strong unified vision of what he wants all the movies to portray; of their parts in the larger narrative. Having strong characterization based storylines all moving to advance a greater story can only come if the person at the top has a clear, concise view of where the story should go. And that can only happen if the one at the top has both a clear understanding of the storylines that are being drawn from, and a passion for the story being told.
Kevin Feige being a fan of Marvel stories has been key to his success. Feige, years before helming the MCU, was made associate producer on the first X-Men film in 2000, due to his extensive knowledge of the Marvel universe. Just seeing the movies as a financial engine to generate profits would have lead to similar results, as well, some other comic book movies that have come out in the past that seemed more calculated as business moves first, and passion projects never.
Feige loves Marvel lore. And that knowledge of the material informs his decisions in hiring, casting, and writing decisions. It’s led to some amazing casting choices and emotional stories being told. Most of the long months between Infinity War and Endgame were spent in an emotional fog wondering what would become of our erstwhile heroes that we’ve been following since 2008 (in Iron Man’s case at least).
A lot of work and dedication went into making the MCU a success, and Feige is still only a part of that success, but it still goes to show having passion for what you do can be the extra ingredient that makes a work stand out among others.
Please leave your comments with your impressions of the direction the MCU is taking and feel free to tell me how much you agree with John Krasinski playing Reed Richards, because c’mon, you know you agree too.
Kevin Feige’s having a great summer. It’s hard to deny that, right now, Disney is king of the hill when it comes to blockbusters. And leading a large part of that charge is Kevin Feige, the driving force behind the box office juggernaut that is the MCU. This summer is something of a transition period for Feige and Marvel as they pivot from closing out the first saga that began with Iron Man back in 2008 and start working on what’s coming next for the MCU.
But it’s hard to dispute that Feige has earned his victory lap this summer. Just three months ago Avengers: Endgame released and made all the money. Last I checked, Endgame was sitting at $2.772 billion. In addition to its financial success, it also marks the creative culmination of more than 20 movies, thousands of cast, writers, directs, and crew. The MCU has defined a generation of not just comic book films, but films in general. But the end of the Infinity saga leaves us in a strange situation. For the first time in years, MCU fans don’t know what’s coming. With Spiderman: Far From Home closing out the post-Endgame storyline, we’re left wondering where we’ll go from here. And that, coupled with upcoming fan events leaves Feige in a powerful position. He has both the opportunity and task of laying out where we go from here, and doing it in a way that capitalizes on the massive fanbase and speculation and energy that brings.
First up is San Diego Comic Con, in which today (July 20) is the final day, where Feige will showcase the big event, Hall H. We already know we’re getting The Eternals and Thor 4, with Taika Waititi at the helm. But the rest of Marvel’s movie slate is still a mystery. While it’s still likely we’re years away from seeing the X-Men, Fantastic Four, or Deadpool show up in an MCU movie, fans are still excited to see what’s coming up next, both for the current slate of MCU heroes, in addition to hoping to learn of casting choices for upcoming heroes. Even movie titles, if released, would fuel fan speculation on where we’re going from here.
**Post Comic Con Edit** Well, we got our look at what’s ahead for 2020 and 2021 in the MCU. Kevin Feige brought down the house. We got dates and now have a roadmap of where we’re going from here, beginning with Black Widow, due to be released May 1st, 2020. Of particular interest was the information that Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness would also star Elisabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. Considering Doctor Strange is set to release shortly after the first season of WandaVision premiers on Disney+, and we’ve been told it will be a weird trip of a show, it seems the MCU is about to get a lot more complicated.
Also, Thor: Love and Thunder is just about the greatest title for a movie I’ve ever seen. We’ll also be getting Natalie Portman as Lady Thor. In addition, our favorite Norse trickster will be getting his own series. Loki will cover the shenanigans of Thor’s mischievous brother who we saw teleport away in the 2012 timeline during Endgame.
The Eternals and Shang-Chi are new territory for the MCU, and it will be interesting to see where they will lead us during the next phase. The Eternals were connected to the origins of mutants in the original comics, so that could be one possible avenue of laying the foundation for the X-Men down the line, as could WandaVision and The Multiverse of Nightmares, in a sort of reverse House of M situation.
At the end of the panel, Feige set the internet on fire by dropping a quick roundup of what’s coming after these confirmed film dates, namely Fantastic Four and Blade (with the great Mahershala Ali as the lead). He also said the mutants are coming as well.
One worrying thought I and many other online had was that if Mahershala Ali will be taking on the mantle of Blade, after having played Cottonmouth in season one of Netflix’s Luke Cage, does that in effect render the Netflix Marvel shows as non-canonical? If so that would be a shame, as Charlie Cox, Mike Colter, Krysten Ritter, and Jon Bernthal, and everyone else, were wonderfully cast and brought a lot of passion to their roles. Could this possibly mean that we will know once and for all that the MCU is indeed separate from the TV shows? I’m personally hoping to see a few of these actors reprise their roles again in the MCU, either in a film or on Disney+.
As for Fantastic Four, I am looking forward to hearing casting for who will play the four. While I’m open to ideas on Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm, I really do think John Krasinski is the only real choice for Reed Richards. I mean, have you seen how he’s been drawn recently in the War of the Realms comics?
Tell me that doesn't look like Krasinski. I dare you. There’s plenty of time for more posts about casting wishes or looking at who Marvel does actually go on to cast as time goes on though. So stay tuned for those articles.
Part Two of Feige’s big road map may include D23, the Disney expo that will be held August 23-26. While the expo will cover the range of Disney franchises, it’s a safe bet Marvel will play a large role in Disney’s plans for future expansion, what with the acquisition of Fox properties such as X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool. I believe D23 will also feature Disney+, Disney’s upcoming streaming service. It’s a safe bet if that happens that Feige will discuss the importance of the Disney+ Marvel series in the works, with series in the works for Loki, Vision and Scarlet Witch, and Falcon and Winter Soldier, as well as a Hawkeye miniseries. These series will be important platforms for moving the MCU plot forward in between and in addition to the movie releases. Having announced them at Comic Con in the schedule along with the films goes to show that these streaming shows will be an important part of the MCU going forward.
To sort of switch from relaying the latest MCU news and go a little into why the MCU is so successful, let’s look at Kevin feige and what makes his helming of the MCU different than some of his competitors.
The main ingredient that has made Feige so successful, in my opinion, in a strong unified vision of what he wants all the movies to portray; of their parts in the larger narrative. Having strong characterization based storylines all moving to advance a greater story can only come if the person at the top has a clear, concise view of where the story should go. And that can only happen if the one at the top has both a clear understanding of the storylines that are being drawn from, and a passion for the story being told.
Kevin Feige being a fan of Marvel stories has been key to his success. Feige, years before helming the MCU, was made associate producer on the first X-Men film in 2000, due to his extensive knowledge of the Marvel universe. Just seeing the movies as a financial engine to generate profits would have lead to similar results, as well, some other comic book movies that have come out in the past that seemed more calculated as business moves first, and passion projects never.
Feige loves Marvel lore. And that knowledge of the material informs his decisions in hiring, casting, and writing decisions. It’s led to some amazing casting choices and emotional stories being told. Most of the long months between Infinity War and Endgame were spent in an emotional fog wondering what would become of our erstwhile heroes that we’ve been following since 2008 (in Iron Man’s case at least).
A lot of work and dedication went into making the MCU a success, and Feige is still only a part of that success, but it still goes to show having passion for what you do can be the extra ingredient that makes a work stand out among others.
Please leave your comments with your impressions of the direction the MCU is taking and feel free to tell me how much you agree with John Krasinski playing Reed Richards, because c’mon, you know you agree too.
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