On the eve of the release of "The Fantastic Four: First Steps", Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige held a roundtable interview with the media.Talking about the interaction between small screens and big screens in the film and television universe, he conveyed a clear and subtle message:
The characters may be able to travel between movies and episodes, but the storyline - not necessarily.
As reported by our sister website Variety, Feich noted that from 2009 to 2017, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) released about 50 hours of content.In the next half of the time, more than 100 hours of film and television works were produced.This explosive growth is partly due to the "content demand" brought by Disney's platform since its launch at the end of 2019.
"This is the first time we are facing a situation where quantity is before quality." Feiqi admitted, "Suddenly, there was a voice saying- we needed more content. So we responded, 'Okay, we do have more resources to mine.'"
After this, a large number of live-action series surged like a flood—starting from "WandaVision" in January 2021, the subsequent appearances include "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", "Loki", "Hawkeye", "The Moonlight Knight", "Ms. Marvel", "The Hulk", "Secret Invasion", "Loki" Season 2, "Echo", "Agatha: The Chaos Witch", "Darkward: Rebirth", and more recently, "Heart of Steel".
Although these dramas enrich the MCU's worldview, they also give the audience a sense of heaviness that "must make up for lessons before watching the movie".In response, Feiqi said without hesitation: "Thunderbolts*" is a very outstanding movie, but many viewers are unfamiliar with the title, many of which are actually from the series on Disney. This sense of separation makes people feel--'Do I have to watch those dramas first to understand the movie?'"
Return to the essence: Make the episode a drama
For this reason, now dealing with Disney series, Feige stressed: "We are returning to the idea of making a show really a show, not a gear in the huge narrative of the MCU."
For example, although New York faces alien threats again in "Thunderstorm*", Feige made it clear that these events will not be mentioned or echoed in "Darkward: Rebirth" which is also set in New York.However, Jon Bernthal’s Frank Casso (i.e. Punisher) will make the big screen in another way, appearing in the fourth Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland.
"When we have such great actors who interpret great characters, it's interesting to have them appear on different platforms," Fitch explained.
Rare Star Shining: The Future of Young Heroes
Talking about the TV series, Feiqi praised the starring of "Ms. Marvel" Iman Vellani (Iman Vellani) as "one of our most successful castings."However, Fitch remains mysterious as to whether she will return after starring in Captain Marvel and Lady Marvel.
After all, the end of "The Marvels" left a suspense egg—Welani's Kamala Khan accidentally visited Hailee Steinfeld in "Hailee" and revealed that he was "forming a team of young heroes."
Feich did not deny the possibility when asked if there would be a movie or series about Young Avengers, but he also emphasized: "The key is where the best story can be told and where the most charismatic chemistry can be inspired. They are of course interesting to each other, but we also want to see more possibilities for fresh combinations."
