Avengers: Endgame Director Explains Kevin Feige's Secret to the MCU's Success

By Nathaniel Brail


The Marvel Cinematic Universe is predominantly known for being a huge success. All of the films in the catalog have made of $25 billion worldwide to date, and Marvel Studios has no plans of stopping. Avengers: Endgame is one of the highest grossing film of all time, which would make anyone wonder if the studio has some secret trick of making their films successful and you'd be right. Joe Russo, who co-directed Avengers: Endgame, recently had a conversation with Deadline at the Sands International Film Festival in St. Andrews, and he revealed Marvel Studios' President Kevin Feige's secret to success.

"Well, Marvel's secret sauce is that Kevin likes the films to be entertaining, right? And entertaining typically involves humor, and I think that Kevin's very big on testing movies and I think he likes to sit in the test screening and hear the response," Russo told the trade. "So the audience's laughing, you can hear their response. You can understand, 'Okay, every 2 minutes [they] are getting some enjoyment out of the movie,' and that's a strong way for him to gauge how the movie will perform with an audience, right? So I think humor is very important to him."

Marvel Studios' last two Avengers movies made big bucks at the box office, but the films were actually really expensive to make. During the same festival, Russo confirmed the official budget for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and it was pretty substantial. The director revealed that both films each cost $500 million plus to make.

"I don't know if these numbers have ever been accurately reported but in the case of Avengers: Endgame or Infinity War, each of those movies was $500 million plus. So this is an incredible amount of money that is being spent on these films," Russo confirmed at the festival. "And you have responsibility, if you have a conscience to in some way deliver a return on that investment for the people that gave you that money."

The next film on Marvel Studios upcoming slate is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the film is set to blow the water out of previous Phase Four films with the inclusion of multiple characters from the multiverse. The film is directed by the legendary Sam Rami and will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo.



What do you think about Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige's secret to success? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @NateBrail up on Twitter!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to hit theaters May 6, 2022.

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