“Captain America: Civil War” hits North American cinemas this weekend, riding a wave of extremely positive reviews and likely to break a few box office records before Sunday is over. It’s another feather in an already plumage-filled hat for Marvel, and it’s really a reminder of how incredible their run has been so far. With a clear understanding of their characters, ways of bringing them to the big screen, and telling stories that entertain both diehard fans and the average moviegoer, it’s remarkable how Marvel has made themselves into a global brand. But that success doesn’t come without very smart decision-making, and much of that has to be credited to Kevin Feige.
Marvel’s creative leader, he’s found a crowd-pleasing balance for the studio’s blockbusters that brings very high stakes without losing their lightness of touch. Indeed, even in ‘Civil War,’ which finds former friends Captain America and Tony Stark turned enemies, and the Avengers splitting up, there are a lot of laughs. And even though there is a lot to lose for all the characters in the film, the picture never feels bogged down with an overly ponderous, grim tone, and sets up very clear motivations for the actions these superheroes take, unlike another recent film (looking at you “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice“). And in a long chat with Deadline, Feige admits Marvel is very conscious of losing that balance.
“We’re all very nervous about becoming too serious and pompous as the cinematic universe continues to grow. I think that’s something we’re always on alert for as we work with our filmmakers. That said, [‘Civil War’ screenwriters] Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely and [directors] Joe and Anthony Russo, understand that tone and had helped define it going back to ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier.’ We have an amazing partnership now with a creative cabal that understands where you need to have fun,” Feige said. “The entire purpose of that airport action scene in the film was to deliver on the promise of the conceit of civil war, but also to have a tremendous amount of fun so that the movie could then take you to a surprising place later.”
Again, it’s worth emphasizing how well Feige knows the brand and what the audience wants from Marvel movies, and he’s not one to simply react to trends. When asked if Marvel might go R-rated in the wake of “Deadpool,” Feige’s response is another window into the thinking that goes behind the entire cinematic universe.
“No, we’ve not had any specific conversations about that. And that is only part of the takeaway from ‘Deadpool.’ The thing that Deadpool shows is, when you present something unique to an audience, they will respond to it. When you present something as popular as a superhero character, in a different and unique and crazy way as they did in ‘Deadpool,’ it demands attention and audiences went to it. They pulled it off,” he said. “….We’ve always said if there’s any ‘secret’ it’s respect the source material, understand the source material and then, any adaptation you make from the source material should be done only to enhance whatever the original pure spirit of the source material was. ‘Deadpool’ hit on all cylinders with that.”
Feige’s carefully considered approach also carries over to the prospect of the fanboy wishlist solo movies for Hulk and Black Widow, and the Marvel exec shares what the chances are of either movie happening.
“Disney and Universal would need to come to an agreement to allow Marvel to do a standalone Hulk film for Disney,” he admits. But don’t fret, as things are much more promising for Scarlett Johansson‘s vehicle.
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“We’ve announced the next nine movies, ten counting ‘Civil War,’ through the end of 2019. Where we go beyond that are ongoing discussions that we’ll focus on in the next few years because we have a lot to do before then. Of the characters that you’ve just mentioned I would say certainly the one creatively and emotionally that we are most committing to doing is Black Widow,” Feige said.
Indeed, even Joe and Anthony Russo, part of the current Marvel braintrust, are confident a Black Widow movie will happen, with the former telling Collider, “I don’t think [it’ll take] much. I think it’s just a function of where on the slate it goes. She’s a bad-ass.” And it probably doesn’t hurt that Johansson has quickly ascended to a bankable blockbuster lead thanks to “Lucy.”
So, it sounds like Marvel fans are in very comfortable hands for the next little while, with Feige and co. showing a clear vision for what they want to achieve. Thoughts? Hit up the comments section.