Kevin Feige says Marvel does not let the nonstop noise from the internet shape its movies.
Speaking Thursday at the dedication of the Kevin Feige Division of Film & Television Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Feige appeared alongside Ryan Coogler and Shawn Levy and talked about fandom, online theories, and how Marvel actually handles feedback.
According to Feige, Marvel has always had a back-and-forth relationship with its audience dating back to the letters pages in the comics, but the scale of online fandom today is a completely different beast.
Kevin Feige warns about the power of online fandom
Feige said the sheer amount of commentary online can get overwhelming fast if filmmakers pay too much attention to it.
He explained that there are endless fan theories on YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit, all offering different takes, and said focusing too closely on that kind of chatter can “crush you.”
That is why Feige said Marvel does not operate that way.
“You can read everything on everything and get a different point of view on it. You can go crazy. So, we don’t do that,” said Feige, via THR.
Marvel uses test screenings for real feedback
Instead of chasing internet reactions, Feige said Marvel gets its most useful early feedback from test screenings.
He compared it to film students showing rough cuts to classmates, only with much more on the line when the budget is close to $200 million and the audience reaction comes back rough.
Feige joked that those moments can be brutal when people watch the movie and respond with, “What was that?”
That is when Shawn Levy jumped in and summed up the process in simple terms, saying the panic sets in, you feel terrible, and then you get back to work.
Shawn Levy and Ryan Coogler back up Feige
Levy also warned that filmmakers can lose their way if they get pulled into the fog of online noise.
He said that when working on major franchise titles like Marvel and Star Wars, creators need to know when to put all of that aside and reconnect with the original idea and voice that started the project.
Feige added that earlier in his career, he thought Marvel was alone in struggling to get things right on the first try, but later realized even top filmmakers and studios go through the same process.
He pointed to Pixar as one example and then turned to Ryan Coogler to ask if Sinners was perfect from its first cut.
“I thought we were the only morons that couldn’t do it perfectly the first time and had to really work at it to make it great. And turned out that Pixar would do the same thing. And turns out that most great filmmakers…,” Feige said and turned to Coogler, asking, “Was Sinners perfect from the first cut?
Coogler laughed and said no, adding that he is not even sure it is perfect now.
