Marvel Studios, over the course of its decade-plus history, has become a premier place for newer/indie directing talent looking to break into big-budget studio filmmaking. We saw this with folks like the Russo Brothers, James Gunn, Destin Daniel Cretton, and many more. Most recently, we’re about to see the Marvel debut from director Nia DaCosta, the filmmaker behind “The Marvels.” And according to the helmer, there were moments during the making of her blockbuster when she had to reach out to some Marvel directing alums to get some words of encouragement as she ventured into the unknown of big-budget filmmaking.
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Speaking to Vanity Fair, “The Marvels” director Nia DaCosta was honest about the process of making a Marvel Studios megablockbuster. With a reported budget of $130 million, “The Marvels” is the biggest budget ever given to a female director and this film is only DaCosta’s third feature. Obviously, making the leap to Marvel Studios and superhero films led to some rough days on set.
DaCosta admitted that she leaned on the aforementioned Cretton, who directed “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” after a career in indie filmmaking, and would text messages saying things like “I’m overwhelmed” or “I’m so stressed.”
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“Sometimes you’d be in a scene and you’d be like, ‘What the hell does any of this shit mean?’” DaCosta explained. “Or an actor’s looking at some crazy thing happening in space, and they’re [actually] looking at a blue X. There were obviously hard days, and days where you’re like, ‘This just isn’t working.’”
A unique aspect of the Marvel Studios experience, according to many directors who have worked with the studio, is just how involved Kevin Feige and his team are with the creation of the movies. Unlike indie work, where the director has the ultimate say over the vision of the film, when you work with Marvel, it’s the producers who are the one’s steering the ship. Though, it has been said that director’s do have a bit of freedom. It’s just that when you direct a Marvel movie, you know that it’s part of a much bigger picture.
“It is a Kevin Feige production, it’s his movie,” said DaCosta. “So I think you live in that reality, but I tried to go in with the knowledge that some of you is going to take a back seat.”
That doesn’t mean that DaCosta is upset over the production of “The Marvels.” It’s just, as you might expect, she encountered growing pains and experienced the process of working in a huge studio machine.
Was all the hard work worth it? We’ll find out when “The Marvels” hits theaters on November 10.
