Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie • Page 312

Interesting notes from the recent ‘MCU: Reign of Marvel Studios’ book

While filming Endgame, the on-set plan was to have Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Spider-Man be the three new faces of the MCU. It didn’t work out well: Marvel lost Spider-Man right after FFH and Boseman passed.

Damn..

but by 2022 Brie was pretty disillusioned about working with Marvel, likely due to years of Internet harassment campaigns.

Fools have/had nothing better to do. Genuinely sad that they can't/couldn't grow up. I still think Brie should be one of the faces of the MCU. But with the rumors of rebooting the MCU, I don't think that's possible.

Kate Herron had a mini-room reworking Waldron’s Loki scripts.

When people say Waldron should be writing Secret Wars, this is further proof he shouldn't. It's always "he wrote Loki". Then you look at how he handled MOM.

For Disney Investor Day 2020, Feige and Kathleen Kennedy were pressured into announcing projects “nowhere near ready,” noting Armor Wars and Fantastic Four. “The event wrongfooted Marvel: The studio struggled to deliver on all the promises it made during that presentation.”

I mean that was kind of a given but..woosh

 

Other interesting details

Phase One

While trying to buy Marvel, Bob Iger recruited Steve Jobs to call Perlmutter and tell him how good the Pixar sale was for Pixar internally.

Nearly a decade after their demise, we finally know the full Marvel Creative Committee: Dan Buckley, Joe Quesada, Brian Michael Bendis, Louis D’Esposito, Kevin Feige, and Alan Fine. The MCC’s most unpopular decisions and toxic feedback culture came from Fine, who was Perlmutter’s attack dog. “Screaming matches” were had because the MCC wanted Captain America to be set in the modern day.

Even before they cast Hiddleston, Marvel knew they wanted Loki to be the villain of Avengers. Thor screenwriter Zack Stentz: “They literally said, ‘If you fail at everything else, please just give us a villain as good as Magneto in Loki.’”

Chris Evans turned down Captain America twice, even after Marvel offered him the role without an audition. Downey was enlisted to call Evans and convince him.

Perlmutter resisted even Black Widow being an Avenger: he wanted the team to be all men. Marvel corporate believed the sweet spot to move action figures was white men in their 30s. Runaways was cancelled because it wasn’t “toyetic” enough.

Phase Two

As Marvel Studios entered Phase Two, the Creative Committee became a production chokepoint, insisting on reading all scripts but taking longer than ever to respond to them. The notes coming out of New York coalesced around a single idea: the Marvel Cinematic Universe should exist to sell merchandise.

When Rebecca Hall signed IM3, it was explicitly to play the film’s villain. The MCC forced Shane Black / Drew Pearce to change this due to toy sale concerns. For the same reasons, Hela was replaced as the villain of Thor 2.

Jessica Jones fell apart at ABC because the network wanted to retool the show to focus on Carol Danvers. (It was later repackaged into the Netflix Defenders deal.)

The Russos insisted on using physical sets and practical effects wherever possible, and closely fine-tuned the fight choreography. For the elevator sequence, Evans was required for most of his stunts due to the limited filming space.

Nicole Perlman initially had Nova lead GOTG, but it was decided a more roguish figure was needed. Quill’s mixtape was her idea, which the MCC opposed. Otherwise, they didn’t contribute much feedback because they believed GOTG would inevitably fail and they could reign in Feige.

Edgar Wright first pitched Ant-Man all the way back in 2001, four years before Marvel Studios even existed. Wright was hired in 2006, but production was never an urgent priority for either party. Each time it was pushed back, the culture inside Marvel Studios changed, reconceiving how the film would serve the MCU.

The MCC noted the hell out of Ant-Man, clumsily shoehorning in MCU references, which Wright and Cornish tried to make work. To nudge things forward, Marvel Studios hired an in-house writer to do a rewrite, but it backfired. Wright was so shocked, he no longer believed Marvel operated as good faith collaborators and left the film.

Patrick Wilson was originally Yellowjacket. The McKay/Rudd rewrite expanded Hope’s role in part because Lilly hadn’t actually signed her contract. After Wright left, she negotiated for a larger part.

Phase Three

The MCC wanted to cut Tony Stark from Civil War (lmao). They also pushed for the airport fight to be superheroes vs. super soldiers. Iger called Perlmutter to try and smooth things over, overriding Ike on greenlighting Black Panther and Captain Marvel. The production grew more contentious and the Russos threatened to quit. Finally, when Perlmutter decided to fire Feige, Iger cut the strings, freeing Feige. The MCC was dead.

After this, Phase Three was very smooth sailing, so this section of the book is a bit dry.

Sony’s contract with Marvel specified that after the release of a Spider-Man movie, the studio had to start production of the next one within three years and nine months, and get it into theaters within five years and nine months. Otherwise, the hugely valuable Spider-Man movie rights would revert to Marvel.

Captain Marvel was a period piece to avoid figuring out how Carol would interact with SHIELD and the Avengers. They considered setting it in the 60s and 80s. The same firm that de-aged Patrick Stewart in X-Men 3 de-aged Samuel L. Jackson. The technology itself hasn’t actually evolved much: the artists are just more skilled.

Endgame’s final battle began previz in 2016. Cut moments: Black Panther fights Ebony Maw, Scott Lang accidentally alerts the baddies by playing a Partridge Family song.

Phase Four

How determined was Marvel Studios to minimize any connection with Marvel Television? When it developed a movie starring another obscure superteam, the Eternals, the creators were instructed that none of it could take place in Hawaii. The studio didn’t want any risk that audiences might be reminded of the Inhumans.

After GOTG3, Gunn planned on sticking around the MCU to flesh out its cosmic side. But after being fired and rehired, he made clear his future loyalties would be with DC.

Abomination’s Shang-Chi cameo was set before they decided to fully revive the character for She-Hulk.

No Way Home basically never had a finished screenplay because so many elements were in flux. Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, and Sally Field’s Aunt May were all in various drafts. Maguire and Garfield weren’t signed until two months into filming.

Victoria Alonso joined Marvel during Iron Man, becoming the #3 executive in the company, responsible for VFX and post-production. In 2019, when Feige became head of Marvel Entertainment, he immediately promoted Alonso, but a rift began developing.

Feige was incensed after Alonso criticized Chapek for not denouncing Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, breaking Kevin’s “don’t air dirty laundry in public” rule. Feige speculated if she’d “outgrown” her role.

One of the only times Alonso refused a request from the higher-ups was removing LGBTQ references in Quantumania for release in certain countries. Louis D’Esposito hired a VFX team behind her back, which she considered a profound betrayal. When Disney fired Alonso this year, nobody from Marvel Studios intervened.

This is in reference to Anson Mount’s cameo in MoM. Make of it what you will:

If the Inhumans could be rehabilitated, apparently everyone in MCU history was on Feige’s call list—except Edward Norton, the franchise’s first Bruce Banner, and Joss Whedon, whose Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters remained in limbo.

 

We knew the stuff about the MCC vetoing female villains, but it's nice to see it laid out in print. Patty Jenkins Thor 2 is a big what if, and Iron Man 3 as originally intended.

Difficult to find the words for Alonso's firing, given that she fought her ground for LGBTQ+ rep, but was also responsible for VFX and post-production, which is probably the most criticised aspect of Marvel over the last few years as the scale of their worker abuses has been pushed more and more to the forefront.

 

Peak cinema. Marty could never.

 

Jokes aside, it was as good of a conclusion for the character as I could see anyone else making. Of all the big exits, Stark's was executed best.

 

I think Cap’s was just as good. It’s interesting that their fates kind of got swapped. Steve felt at home in war and didn’t see a future. Tony, having formerly been selfish and not one to sacrifice himself, goes out making one of the biggest sacrifices ever, despite wanting to be around for his family. Cap goes on, taking Tony’s advice, and gets a life. A life he thought was gone forever. Tony learned how to be a hero from Cap. Cap learned how to live a life apart from war with loved ones from Tony.

I just think it was neat.

 

I like the idea of Cap's conclusion. Him deciding to have a life and enjoy it instead of constantly being the soldier is a great choice. The execution just felt off. In a matter of minutes he is gone and back as an old man. I received whiplash.

I would have liked it more if he gave a farewell to Sam and Bucky + hand the shield to Sam before he left. Don't worry about old man Steve coming back.

 

It's pretty funny, although I don't know if a title change late in production is really a warning sign.

 

Is it late in production? Like legit I have no idea if this show has even been filmed because they announced it 41 years ago

 

Filming wrapped in May.

 

Next one is going to say “Agatha: Remember her?”

 

Remember that song that was popular for a little while? Yeah that one. Remember anything else about her? No? That’s ok. Just remember the fun song.

 

You're acting like Kathryn Hahn wasn't a delight in WandaVision.

 

She definitely was but seriously it was almost 3 years ago

 

That's MCU, baby!

 

Remember Shang Chi, what happened to that guy

 

he’s ken

 

The worst one tbh

 

I mean, I get it, but it's not like this isn't how the MCU's been rolling for forever.

Remember when Dr. Strange came out in 2016 and Dr. Strange 2 came out last year?

BTW, Shang-Chi only came out two years ago. It only feels like forever.

 

People are gonna forget about Shang Chi!

 

Just treat the films like EA Sports games and put a new version out every year. The outfits change, the plot remains the same.

 

Feels like Strange 2 came out longer ago than that already