When Avi Arad Stole Kevin Feige From The X-Men Movies For the MCU

Posted in: Comics, Current News, Disney, Marvel Studios, Movies, TV | Tagged: avi arad, kevin feige, Marvel Studios, mcu, Wall Street journal, x-men

Lauren Schuler Donner recalls when Avi Arad told her that he wanted to steal Kevin Feige from the X-Men films for Marvel Studios

Lauren Schuler Donner, movie producer on the X-Men, Deadpool, and Constantine movies, talked about Kevin Feige working for her. “We were always open to notes. I think he, right away, impressed me as somebody who knew the world better than I did. He understood how to make a movie and then brought his whole knowledge of the X-Men world.”

And it was a stepping stone for Feige. “Lauren was always producing movies or developing movies. And the people that had worked for Lauren were being moved up into positions with more creative input.”

But it was then-Marvel exec Avi Arad who was the most impressed. “Kevin was the guy that I can call and say, “I just saw the hair on Wolverine. Do you agree that it’s weird?” He said, “Yes.” “So, let’s do something about it.”

Back in July, The Wall Street Journal’s podcast, The Journal, hosted by Kate Linebaugh and Ryan Knutson, ran a series of episodes by Ben Fritz looking at the rise of Marvel Studios from comic book publisher to film studio to Disney purchase and the executive and creator battles within. It made a few headlines, but there are lots of gems that seemed to be missed, such as Marvel’s initial relationship with Sony Pictures, led by our favourite Marvel executives, Avi Arad, and Ike Perlmutter, two toy manufacturers who took over the comic book company and made it profitable again. Catch up on more of our coverage with this tag.

Avi Arad made it explicit. Donner recalls, “Yes, I do remember him saying, “I would like to steal Kevin.”

With Avi Arad justifying, “I said, “Listen, I think Kevin is a diamond in the rough, and what he needs to do is go make movies. He cannot babysit puppies. He’s too intellectual, too brilliant, too hardworking. He comes to set; he knows what he’s doing.”

Not that Donner was happy to see Kevin Feige go. “I mean, to be really honest, it was like, “Oh,” it was a real gut punch. On the other hand, it was totally obvious it was where he belonged. It was where he was born for. And I, of course, said yes.”

And before long, he rose through the ranks with Avi Arad saying, “And in a board meeting, I say to them, “Time to make Kevin the president.” And it was time; he was ready. Because he’s a very sophisticated learner.”

Kevin Feige also brought in Brian Bendis to write the post-credit scene for The Avengers. “I got an 11:00 at night call from Kevin, which was appropriate, and said, “Hey, tomorrow Samuel L. Jackson is doing somebody a huge favour and coming in to do a cameo.” And I literally thought he was just calling to go, “Can you believe it?” And I went, “Oh, that’s amazing.” And he goes, “Yeah, we actually don’t have anything for him to say. Do you have a minute to jot some shit down?”… It’s like I wrote any to-be-continued idea you could possibly think of for Iron Man and Nick Fury, and it’s like three pages of one-liners. And I stayed up all night because I was so excited. I was just enjoying it. And then I handed it in, and I think like a day later, I got, “Oh, that worked out great.” And I go, “Oh, did Samuel L. Jackson actually say stuff?” And they go, “Yeah, yeah, it worked.”

Of course, that was before Ike Perlmutter got involved…

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