Kevin Feige is best known as the head of Marvel Studios and the driving force behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he got his start working on 20th Century Fox’s X-Men movies and left at least one recognizable stamp behind.
It turns out that Kevin Feige is the one who is largely responsible for Hugh Jackman‘s signature Wolverine haircut appearing in the film, though it was no small task to make it happen.
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Speaking to Vanity Fair, Feige recalls that the stylist “eventually went ‘Fine!’ and did a ridiculous version. If you go back and look at it he’s got big-ass hair in that first movie. But that’s Wolverine!”
That moment may be a perfect crystallization of how Kevin Feige turned the Marvel Cinematic Universe into such a success story. While other studios with superhero licenses were concerned with adjusting the comic book source material to something more in line with other mainstream movies, Feige was all about letting Marvel Studios own heritage.
“I never liked the idea that people weren’t attempting things because of the potential for them to look silly,” he says. “Anything in a comic book has the potential to look silly. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to make it look cool.”
While working for producer Avi Arad, he watched as Marvel movie adaptations like Hulk, Daredevil, and The Punisher all went wrong and even the once successful Spider-Man series eventually sputtered out. Feige offers a simple explanation as to why.
“The answers are always in the books.”
Feige has been shepherding the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade now and will have 22 movies to show for it by the time the fourth Avengers movie releases in 2019. There’s no end in sight either as he says there are another 20 movies currently in the planning at Marvel Studios.
Thor: Ragnarok is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include; Black Panther on February 16, 2018, Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.
Upcoming X-Men movies include The New Mutants on April 13, 2018, Deadpool 2 on June 1, 2018, X-Men: Dark Phoenix on November 2, 2018, and Gambit on February 14, 2019.
