At the center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Kevin Feige, the man who currently runs arguably the most successful mega movie franchise conceived.
To get to this position though involved some fighting for what he believed in, including a policy of inclusion when those above him corporately were against such a move.
Speaking with The Independent for a feature piece this week, Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo was discussing some topics when the lack of LGBT+ representation in the MCU came up. That’s when Ruffalo went to bat for Feige and what he’s done:
“When we did the first Avengers, Kevin Feige told me, ‘Listen, I might not be here tomorrow.’ And he’s like, ‘Ike [Perlmutter] does not believe that anyone will go to a female-starring superhero movie. So if I am still here tomorrow, you will know that I won that battle.’
Because Kevin wanted black superheroes, women superheroes, LGBT superheroes. He changed the whole Marvel universe. We now have a gay superhero on the way, we have black superheroes, we have female superheroes – Scarlett Johansson has her movie coming out, we have Captain Marvel, they are doing She-Hulk next. No other studio is being that inclusive on that level. [Smiles] They have to, though. This is the f–king world.”
The box office successes of both “Black Panther” and “Captain Marvel” have shown fans don’t care that much, they just want a good film. The fourth phase of Marvel is leaning into that with “Black Widow” and “Eternals” this year and shooting is currently underway on “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”.
