Kevin Smith Reveals the Two Times Kevin Feige Called Him Directly

Kevin Smith is just as big a comic fan as any of us. He’s directed a handful of episodes within the Arrowverse and wrote one of the most beloved Daredevil comic stories of all time. At one point, he was even set to executive produce a Howard the Duck show for Hulu until Marvel Studios absorbed Marvel Television and everything came tumbling to the ground. The filmmaker has said before he wouldn’t want to direct a feature film for Marvel Studios and in one recent interview, Smith revealed two times when Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige called him directly, causing the filmmaker anxiety over having to potentially shut him down.

“I mean, yeah, but let’s be honest, they’re not knocking. Kevin Feige’s called me twice in my life, and never once to be like, ‘Come work with us.’ One was after the heart attack, and they were like, ‘Call from Kevin Feige,’ and I was like, oh my god, man,” Smith recently told UPROXX of the first time Feige called.

He added, “He called, and he said the loveliest things, man. He goes, ‘Look. When I heard about the heart attack,’ he’s going, ‘it really affected me, because, as a kid from New Jersey who made a movie, you meant something to me. Your journey meant something to me. I’m so glad you’re alive.’ I’m like, ‘Thanks, man. That means a lot.’”

The second time Feige called is when the executive wanted to let Smith know one of his films would appear in an MCU project. At the time, Captain Marvel was filming and Stan Lee’s cameo in the feature involved him reading the script to Mallrats.

“Then, he called me one other time to tell me about the Stan Lee cameo in Captain Marvel,” Smith added. “Even then, that time, I was like, I think he’s about to ask me to be in Captain Marvel and co-cameo with Stan. He was like, ‘No, we’re just looking for Stan’s voice.’”

While Smith has been vocal about not wanting to direct a Marvel feature, there is one type of call he’d love to field from Feige one day.

“Look, I’ll be honest with you,” the filmmaker conlcuded. “This is the call that I really want, Kevin Feige calling up and being like, ‘Will you be in one of these movies?’ That would be far more valuable to me than making one of those movies.”

Cover photo by David Livingston/Getty Images