Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige to Receive Creative Visionary Award

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who has shepherded the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe since Iron Man in 2008, will receive the first ever Marty & Leah Sklar Creative Visionary Award, Variety reports.

The award recognizes Feige's creative vision as the overseer of a 20-movie narrative that continues to unfold, bringing to the screen relatable superheroes who have emerged as some of the industry's biggest names.

"The Ryman Arts Board established the Marty & Leah Sklar Creative Visionary Award to honor Marty's memory and to celebrate the legacy of two amazing founders of our organization," said Phil Hettema, Ryman Arts Board president and president and creative executive of the Hettema Group, in a statement.

"We are thrilled that the first recipient of the award, Kevin Feige, embodies the aspiration of the award so completely. Kevin has reimagined an entire universe of storytelling and introduced us to thrilling new worlds through his creative leadership and vision."

Feige will accept the award at the annual Ryman Arts ceremony hosted November 7 at the Majestic Downtown in Los Angeles, succeeding a Black Panther panel discussion featuring writer Joe Robert Cole and director of photography Rachel Morrison.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will first present Feige with the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment on October 26 before the baseball cap-sporting producer is honored by the Producer's Guild of America with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in 2019.

As chief of Marvel Studios, Feige has steered the Disney-owned blockbuster factory to more than $17 billion worldwide in box office receipts after its MCU franchise became the first to cross $5 billion at the domestic box office. Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4.2 billion in 2009, a buyout that included the then freshly-launched independent Marvel Studios and an expansive library of thousands of characters.

Feige was recently ranked by The Hollywood Reporter as the sixth most powerful person in entertainment, five spots behind Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Despite its many box office wins — the $17 billion in earnings is topped by 20 consecutive #1 box office openings across Marvel Studios' ten-year history — Marvel has yet to receive major award recognition, something Feige is largely unfazed by, despite remarking it would be "wonderful" if its artists were recognized for Black Panther at the upcoming Academy Awards.

"Maybe it's easy to dismiss VFX or flying people or spaceships or billion dollar grosses. I think it is easy to say that you have already been awarded in a certain way," Feige said during June's Produced By conference.

"[Alfred] Hitchcock never won best director, so it's very nice, but it doesn't mean everything. I would much rather be in a room full of engaged fans."

Marvel Studios next releases Captain Marvel, out March 8, followed by Avengers 4 on May 3 and Spider-Man: Far From Home July 5. The studio has released dates staked out through 2022 and Feige famously has plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe mapped out through 2028.