Is Marvel President Kevin Feige The Greatest Producer That’s Ever Lived?

[Amadeus Arkham]

To Ben Affleck and Simon Kinberg he is:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenr...-response/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/gameran...-producer/amp/

Do You agree with this statement or disagree? I mean given the unprecedented success of the MCU with its quality control and fairly consistent track record for fourteen years. Granted, the MCU isn’t exactly high brow stuff but regardless of how you feel about the quality of these movies to say simply say that pulling off a huge long running live action comic book cinematic universe that’s been running consecutively for this long isn’t impressive is delusional. It’s extraordinary what Feige has accomplished, and while the success can’t solely be accredited to him, he’s still the primary architect of this shared cinematic universe craze that others in Hollywood has tried and failed to replicate. So on that basis shouldn’t he be in the conversation for the greatest producer along with the greats like Frank Marshall?

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

If you only consider box office output and even then I don't think I find that argument too compelling. He makes generally middle of the road films based on a hugely established IP where he can just pick and choose from literally thousands of comic plot points to take and most of the stories are just there for him to use.

Take Spielberg. He produced the Back to the Future trilogy, Men in Black, Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, The Land Before Time, The Gremlins series, Casper, The Mask of Zorro, Letters from Iwo Jima, Balto, Twister, Deep Impact. Those are some pretty big series that all don't rely on the same IP and have different genres and tones that he can put under his cap.

[godisawesome]

Feige’s maybe the best at adapting material into a multi-film franchise.

Lucas is the best at building a monster of a franchise across multiple media from the ground up.

[Jim Kelly]

"Producer" has to be one of those titles that is the most poorly defined and can be just about anything. Like "vice president" it can either mean having lots of power or none and you're either a big mucky-muck or a flunky.

The power that Feige has comes less from being a producer and more from just being someone who everyone else allows to have his way. Still in the Disney corporate structure, he's not the big boss--so his power is ephermal. As in the past with other executives, it could all go away if he ever lost favour with the big heads.

I find it odd that everyone is talking about Feige, with the success of SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME--but what about Amy Pascal? That's more her win than his--simply based on financing--Sony gets a bigger piece of the pie. And she had a lot more on the line if her strategy had failed. She managed to save her own career and now it's unlikely Sony will ever give up the Marvel characters they own to Disney.

Why so little talk about her? Sexism? Personality?

[80sbaby]

"Producer" has to be one of those titles that is the most poorly defined and can be just about anything. Like "vice president" it can either mean having lots of power or none and you're either a big mucky-muck or a flunky.

The power that Feige has comes less from being a producer and more from just being someone who everyone else allows to have his way. Still in the Disney corporate structure, he's not the big boss--so his power is ephermal. As in the past with other executives, it could all go away if he ever lost favour with the big heads.

I find it odd that everyone is talking about Feige, with the success of SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME--but what about Amy Pascal? That's more her win than his--simply based on financing--Sony gets a bigger piece of the pie. And she had a lot more on the line if her strategy had failed. She managed to save her own career and now it's unlikely Sony will ever give up the Marvel characters they own to Disney.

Why so little talk about her? Sexism? Personality?

Amy Pascal is on record as saying she went to Feige for his help with Spider-Man. NWH is pretty much all Marvel Studios, not Sony.

[Username taken]

"Producer" has to be one of those titles that is the most poorly defined and can be just about anything. Like "vice president" it can either mean having lots of power or none and you're either a big mucky-muck or a flunky.

The power that Feige has comes less from being a producer and more from just being someone who everyone else allows to have his way. Still in the Disney corporate structure, he's not the big boss--so his power is ephermal. As in the past with other executives, it could all go away if he ever lost favour with the big heads.

I find it odd that everyone is talking about Feige, with the success of SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME--but what about Amy Pascal? That's more her win than his--simply based on financing--Sony gets a bigger piece of the pie. And she had a lot more on the line if her strategy had failed. She managed to save her own career and now it's unlikely Sony will ever give up the Marvel characters they own to Disney.

Why so little talk about her? Sexism? Personality?

She literally sent a message to Feige that read "HELP" with the Spider-man movies. Literally.

Marvel completely produced the new Spider-man movies for Sony. Under her watch, Sony had pretty much screwed up the franchise (i mean, the leaked emails speak for themselves). Not to mention that she seems to be a pretty nasty, racist person in real life.

Anyhow, the success of the Spider-man movies is actually all the MCU and very little of Sony. It's another feather in Feige's cap.

[Username taken]

What Feige and Marvel have done is very impressive.

Feige and co took a colossal risk to start the MCU in the first place (a LOT of people have forgotten that Marvel was an independent studio before Disney acquired them). They actually used the rights of the characters as security for the projects. That was an "all or nothing" gamble.

But the truth is, I don't really know what Feige's actual role is. Yes, he's a producer but he seems very "hands-on" with the production of most MCU movies and he seems to be more like a "creative director". Going by box office output and cultural impact, one could make the argument that he's one of "the" greatest guys to work in Hollywood but I don't know if I will say he is the actual greatest ever.

[Hypestyle]

kudos to Mr. Feige. I'd love to meet with him someday.

[Castle]

What Feige and Marvel have done is very impressive.

Feige and co took a colossal risk to start the MCU in the first place (a LOT of people have forgotten that Marvel was an independent studio before Disney acquired them). They actually used the rights of the characters as security for the projects. That was an "all or nothing" gamble.

But the truth is, I don't really know what Feige's actual role is. Yes, he's a producer but he seems very "hands-on" with the production of most MCU movies and he seems to be more like a "creative director". Going by box office output and cultural impact, one could make the argument that he's one of "the" greatest guys to work in Hollywood but I don't know if I will say he is the actual greatest ever.

I feel this depends on what you measure things to be found impressive. Is Feige like Howard Huges, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg or James Cameron? Unlikely not. Feige as a producer is impressive is we don't take into account raw artistic film making, comic book story telling development , historical art-film commentary and an introduction of a formula that connects movies.

But the truth is, I don't really know what Feige's actual role is. Yes, he's a producer but he seems very "hands-on" with the production of most MCU movies and he seems to be more like a "creative director". Going by box office output and cultural impact, one could make the argument that he's one of "the" greatest guys to work in Hollywood but I don't know if I will say he is the actual greatest ever.

This truth will also have to extend to the producers of Twilight series, Fast and Furious and many other franchise that have and will have continue to sustain box office.

I think Feige is the perfect producer for a modern day Disney's modelled vision of movies. Do I see Feige getting the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the Oscars, No. I dont see that and that award is given to the best producers in Hollywood as a lifetime award, it is even higher than the honorary oscars. Ironic since it is an award Walter Disney , won for being one of the best producers ever in 1941.

While much has been debated on if Walter Disney would have been happy to see what his company has become had he lived long enough since it was Walter's own vision that drove his work, not money, reason he had many flops in the 40s and 50s. Disney today can hardly tolerate any flop movie. they have to stick to a formula to avoid flops as much as possible and get producers to follow that model. However great producers take risk s, example George Lucas reasons for making Star Wars and American Graffiti or James Cameron making Titanic.

Feige is a mainstream generic pop culture producer of cooperate films but he is not an auteur producer like Warren Beatty, Cecil DeMille, Stanley Kramer, Samuel Goldwyn, Walter Disney, William Wyler and Clint Eastwood. In cinematic artsy Hollywood, you need to be an auteur to be considered one of the best.

Brad Pitt, who was never considered one of the greatest actors is however, becoming one of the greatest film producers of this generation. 12 years a slave, Ad Astra, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to name a few produced brad pitt's films, he also acts in them, meaning he is very hands on on these films.

lol. it is going to be hard to rank Feige over Brad Pitt as a producer. I chose to use brad pitt, since I trust he is just as famous as all the Feige movies. if no one has had of Stanley Karmer , they must have heard of Brad Pitt at least.

[Castle]

This thread feels like a rehash of another thread we must have had here before...very long ago or did I have this discussion on reddit? sigh. I don't remember. Anyway I know I have said it somewhere that David Hayman is stronger than Feige as the better producer if we go by modern age Hollywood franchise.

Hayman did with harry potter what Feige cant do with MCU movies. So David Haymen is still my modern age choice here. Chamber of Secrets is as different from Deathly Hallow 1 as Shang Chi is as close to Captain Marvel. If I was a producer, I rather have Heyman filmography over Feige.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Heyman#Filmography

Not only did he produced the 8 harry potter movies all very different in style, tone, story telling and film making. he produced Paddington, Gravity, Once Upon a time in Hollywood and Marriage Story. That is very impressive.

Gravity alone was a once in a lifetime visual film making experience that no MCU movie has ever come close too not even with light speed travel. It was a stronger visual art film better than even Nolan's Interstellar and beating a Nolan film is a pretty hard thing to do since Nolan is also a producer.

Here is Heyman explaining Gravity and how he and the director Alfonso Cuaron brought the movie to life. I just have yet to find any film making knowledge substance of Feige speaking like Heyman does here about any of his movies.

[phonogram12]

Feige’s maybe the best at adapting material into a multi-film franchise.

Exactly this. As a producer of superhero movies at least, he's certainly the most successful, without question.

[Kirby101]

What are the perimeters for "Greatest"?

[Astroman]

Nope. Val Lewton was though.

[Scott Taylor]

Yah, no. You're putting him up against the likes of David O. Selznick, who produced a much broader and varied fare. The MCU movies are not quite there for me, they are one subject matter and are a single franchise, really.

Nope. Val Lewton was though.

His RKO stuff was bomb.

[CliffHanger2]

He didn't eff things up and didn't get in the way. Kinda sad that's considered great these days.