When news broke last month that Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige would be developing a new Star Wars movie, it seemed possible that this could be a prelude to the producer eventually leaving Marvel for a job at Lucasfilm (some of us were even sure of it). That won’t be the case though, at least not yet anyways, because Kevin Feige will be sticking with Marvel for the foreseeable future in an expanded role.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, hot off the unprecedented success of the 23-film Infinity Saga and in advance of the company’s numerous Disney+ offerings, is taking on even more responsibilities at Marvel. In addition to his current role as President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige will now also add Chief Creative Officer, Marvel to his title, according to Deadline.
Just as Thanos gains more powers when he collects more Infinity Stones, so to does Kevin Feige gain new powers with his new title. With this structural shift at the company, all of Marvel’s creative personnel now fall under Kevin Feige. What that means is that the key creative executives at Marvel, across film and TV, will report to Kevin Feige, and he will oversee the creative direction of Marvel storytelling, as well as its content creation platforms.
Accordingly, Marvel TV and Marvel Family Entertainment will both move under the Marvel Studios banner, with Kevin Feige guiding the two arms of the company that previously operated separately from the live-action film studio Feige heads.
Dan Buckley, the President of Marvel Entertainment, will now report to Kevin Feige on matters pertaining to publishing and creative/editorial. On other things, like licensing and games, he will report to Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter. Kevin Feige will still report to Walt Disney Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Alan Horn and Co-Chairman Alan Bergman.
This move is being finalized this week, and when it’s complete, all of the film, television production and publishing at the House of Ideas will fall under the purview of Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige. It streamlines things and gives Kevin Feige a massive amount of control to oversee Marvel’s overall creative direction, which makes total sense given his track record and where both Marvel and Disney at large are headed.
With the upcoming launch of Disney+, Marvel will be contributing major television shows that tie directly in with the highly successful theatrical film universe. Marvel’s Disney+ shows will be a hugely important value proposition for the streaming service that is poised to play a significant role in Disney’s bottom line in the years to come.
Most of Marvel’s TV shows outside of Disney+, like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Marvel Netflix series, are either winding down or gone, so now the opportunity is there to unify the company’s big and small screen ventures under one creative visionary. Gone will be the days of Marvel TV shows where the characters can’t cross over with the films because it would require two separate parts of the company to coordinate and work with each other to make it happen.
It’s not clear how much longer this will extend Kevin Feige’s time at Marvel, but it seems reasonable to assume that he wouldn’t be adding the Chief Creative Officer title if he was going to be headed to a galaxy far, far away anytime soon. This is no doubt a relief for Marvel fans who probably can’t imagine anyone else shepherding the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the skill that Feige has.
This also comes at a time when the MCU is heading into Phase 4 and an entirely new saga. So Kevin Feige will be sticking around and who could blame him, now that he has new toys like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to play with. Plus, he’s still going to produce a Star Wars movie.
Disney+ launches on November 12. Check out our guide to see what’s coming in the MCU’s Phase 4 and beyond and for all the latest movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
