There has been quite the shake-up within Marvel over the past few days, with it being announced that Kevin Feige will no longer be reporting to the infamously frustrating and penny-pinching eccentric Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, and instead be reporting directly to Disney’s Studio Chief Alan Horn. This actually makes perfect sense, and I’m surprised it took Disney this long to make the decision. This reorganization comes due to Feige’s complaints to Horn and Disney CEO Bob Iger about working with Perlmutter.
“Marvel Studios is taking the next logical step in its integration with The Walt Disney Studios, joining Pixar and Lucasfilm in centralizing many of its film-related functions in Burbank, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D’Esposito continuing to lead the Marvel Studios team reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn,” a Disney spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter.
Well, the shake-ups continue, as BirthMoviesDeath is reporting the disbanding of the Marvel Creative Committee. This is the group that would oversee the development of Marvel’s movies, sending copious notes to the filmmakers. The committee was comprised of the President of Marvel Entertainment Alan Fine, superstar comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, Marvel Comics publisher Dan Buckley and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada.
The committee has also been a source of frustration for filmmakers, most famously causing Edgar Wright to jump ship from Ant-Man after six years of pre-production. Too many nit-picky notes and thoughts as well as their busy schedules causing those notes to trickle in is no way to make a movie, so Marvel/Disney has made the right decision going into Phase 3. Captain America: Civil War and possibly Doctor Strange will be the last films affected by the committee, with Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Victoria Alonso reportedly helming projects without their interference.
It is not clear if this is the same for Marvel’s TV or animation divisions, as those are separate entities still headed by Perlmutter, as is Marvel’s publishing arm which I hear may be having some shake-ups of its own in the next few days. We’ll let you know when they do.
