'I Hated It;' Kevin Feige on Marvel Movies Before MCU

A new book providing a behind-the-scenes look at Marvel Studios reveals what Kevin Feige hated about the pre-MCU era.

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Zbigniew Woznicki31 October 2023

Source: Spider-Man; dir. Sam Raimi; Sony Pictures Releasing; 2002

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was created, shows based on comic books were made, but they were not connected. It was Iron Man from 2008 that started the whole revolution. Before that, Marvel didn't oversee filmmaking as much as it might have wanted to (vide The Direct).

From the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios we learn that for Marvel's authorities, handing over rights over characters was like putting their own child in someone else's care.. This is how the past situation with New Line Cinema's control of Iron Man was described by David Maisel:

"Your character goes into limbo and someone else controls it. When you sign a movie deal with the transfer of the license, you are blocking animated productions and many other things. You give your children to someone else and nothing happens on the spot."

Kevin Feige also offered his negative views on the subject. One of the main architects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe said that he and his colleagues tried to influence the production of movies, but no one would listen to them, and that's what he hated. Screenwriter Craig Kyle revealed that Feige worked hard to get the rights to characters back to Marvel:

"From the very beginning, when I contacted Marvel, Kevin told Avi [Arad] that things needed to be straightened out. At that point, Avi represented all of Marvel, he was the face of Marvel Studios. Kevin's job was to make great movies, and that couldn't be guaranteed without total control of the process."

For the next few years, everything seemed to confirm the theory that more control would guarantee better productions. The second decade of the 21st century in cinemas was practically marked by the MCU. Recently, however, the situation has been decidedly worse, and Marvel needs to find a solution to get out of the crisis. A certain problem is also the fact that the rights to Spider-Man are still held by Sony Pictures, making the new movies late to Disney+.

More:He Was a Scrull Back in Avengers: Endgame; Here's When He Got Replaced

Zbigniew Woznicki

He began his adventure with journalism and writing on the Allegro website, where he published news related to games, technology, and social media. He soon appeared on Gamepressure and Filmomaniak, writing about news related to the film industry. Despite being a huge fan of various TV series, his heart belongs to games of all kinds. He isn't afraid of any genre, and the adventure with Tibia taught him that sky and music in games are completely unnecessary. Years ago, he shared his experiences, moderating the forum of mmorpg.org.pl. Loves to complain, but of course constructively and in moderation.

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