Kevin Feige is now best known as the CEO of Marvel Studios and the inventor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the most successful film series of all time. It’s difficult to envision the MCU without him leading the franchise and giving all of the big announcements whenever new projects are announced. However, it turns out that Feige was on the verge of leaving the lucrative position and joining another major superhero property.
When Kevin Feige and Warner Bros. were in serious negotiations about possibly spearheading the DCEU franchise to avoid the criticism of then-Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter a few years ago, he almost jumped ship to DC Films. Fortunately, Marvel Entertainment’s Bob Iger and Alan Horn sided with Feige and promoted him to the chief creative officer.
The details were revealed in Matthew Beloni’s Puck story on Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s aspirations to convert the DCEU into the next Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it’s doubtful that Feige will be tapped to oversee the franchise this time around due to his increased responsibilities at Marvel, Zaslav may either continue with current DC Films president Walter Hamada or look for a new leader. They also disclosed that Warner Bros. has attempted to contact other prominent Marvel creatives in the past, including Louis D’Esposito, but had been unsuccessful.
Today, it’s difficult to picture Feige leading the DCEU rather than the MCU, given that he’s become identified with the world’s most popular film franchise and is behind on the decision to bring some of our favorite Marvel characters to the big screen. Fortunately, Feige chose to continue with Marvel, and he is expected to stay in the role for a long time.
Of course, the issue now is what Zaslav will do with DC Films and who he will recruit to manage the unit as he prepares to turn the DCEU into the sort of franchise it should have been from the start, on par with the MCU. Feige, on the other hand, may not be.
