Kevin Feige, president, Marvel Studios and chief creative officer, Marvel, spoke about the Marvel philosophy in the TCA press tour panel The Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney Plus. He said Marvel gives a lot of thought to making properties such as hit series WandaVision appealing to both major consumers of Marvel movies and new arrivals. “There will always be different layers of understanding but we don’t want there to be barriers to entry,” he said, mentioning viewers being able to “enjoy something as its own self-contained storyline.”
The goal is always to “expand the fans of Marvel,” he added.
Feige was asked about the different vision behind Marvel series on Disney Plus and earlier entries on ABC and Netflix, such as Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s Jessica Jones. “It just comes down to a different team,” he said. “A different team of storytellers telling stories in a different way.”
Feige noted that the Marvel gang remains “anxious and willing and excited to take chances, to take risks, to go to places we haven’t gone through before.”
Be it a film or a limited series, Feige said Marvel does not think too much about sequels or second seasons. With a movie, “We hope there’s a Part 2 or a Part 3, but we’re not factoring that into making Part 1,” he said.
WandaVision features Wanda Maximoff and Vision, characters from Marvel Comics, and the film Avengers: Endgame. It premiered Jan. 15. Feige enjoys the weekly release schedule behind WandaVision, likening it to “a new opening weekend every week.”
Feige said the thinking behind producing films isn’t all that different from the thinking behind producing series. “It’s very much the same high bar that we try to set for ourselves,” he said.
Coming up for Disney Plus is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, a.k.a., the Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. The Winter Soldier. That premieres March 19. Asked about its two main character approach, Feige said, “It was always the thought that we wanted to learn more about both of them.”
