I first got inkling that Kevin Feige might be a mad genius when talking with Marvel VFX artists at Comic-Con about Secret Invasion.
Recall the uproar when it was learned that Disney and Marvel went the artificial intelligence route regarding the opening sequence of Secret Invasion which features that bizarre-looking artwork and footage.
Secret Invasion debuted a month prior to Comic-Con at the time when the actors and writers were both on strike, with the use of AI a big issue.
It’s also known for a while that Marvel has had issues with VFX workers, which recently seen them unionize.
VFX artist thinks Kevin Feige might be a hero
So while we were discussing the visual effects on various projects, I mentioned the opening of Secret Invasion and how it looks so bad and why they would knowingly do that.
As I previously went over, the VFX artist actually thinks Kevin Feige might have intentionally gone with AI for Secret Invasion to bring attention to the cause.
The VFX artist thought Kevin Feige using AI that looks so bad was Feige’s way of backing the VFX artists, bringing attention to the use of AI, and being against the use of artificial intelligence.
So we see by Feige using AI, he actually may have helped (not destroy it, it’s not going away) put it in its place.
The VFX artist also said he wasn’t at all worried about the use of AI as it’s just another tool that artists can use and still needs an artist to get it to work (true enough, watch this Supergirl AI art vid).
Kevin Feige does it again
So regarding Kevin Feige being a mad genius, a recent “unauthorized tell-all” book has been released, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios (includes details on MCU reboot), where while reading the highlights on Reddit, I couldn’t help but think Kevin Feige may have done it again (or previously did it).
I haven’t read the book myself, but the Redditor who posted the highlights offers something very interesting from the book in that it seems as if Kevin Feige was against the MCU on Disney+.
There is no doubt that Marvel has taken a big dip following Avengers: Endgame and the MCU Disney+ shows have been particularly bad.
The book says that Kevin Feige didn’t have much to do with Marvel TV on Disney+ and actually passed it off:
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.”
Marvel Studios assigned junior executives to work on their initial TV series. This freed up the writers/directors from bothering Feige and the Parliament with creative minutiae, but also meant Feige didn’t perform much oversight over the TV shows. The shows were built more like movies: the head writers delivered scripts, but the director ultimately called the shots on the production. Kate Herron had a mini-room reworking Waldron’s Loki scripts.
Did Kein Feige sabotage Marvel on Disney+?
According to what has been said, Disney wanted Marvel to expand on Disney+ with the launch of the streaming service, but the book makes it sound as if Kevin Feige was against the idea (Feige is a big film buff, not comics or TV).
So Kevin Feige not being involved with Marvel on Disney+ – similar to what he may have done with the Secret Invasion opening – did Feige really sabotage Marvel on Disney+?
If that is the case, maybe Feige didn’t get involved with Marvel TV on Disney+ in the hopes it would tank and that Disney would pull back on the MCU on TV and then the focus could swing back to the movies. Kinda wild if so.
Worth a mention is that as a result of Marvel not doing all that well as of late, Disney CEO Bob Iger has said they are pulling back on Marvel.
You gotta think they aren’t pulling back on the MCU movies as much but likely are pulling back on the expensive Disney+ shows that haven’t been any good (Secret Invasion reportedly cost a whopping $200M+, Daredevil is getting retooled, all the episodes of Echo are being dumped at once, Ironheart has been yanked from the release schedule, and don’t forget, Armor Wars went from a Disney+ TV series to a movie).
Feige not being involved with Marvel TV also might explain why Secret Invasion had massive, massive problems and again, why some of the shows haven’t been any good.
Maybe Kevin Feige is really the hero we don’t deserve but the hero we needed all along. And maybe that explains Skaar?!
