Kevin Feige Reveals Opening-Night Tradition Marvel Studios Still Does

Kevin Feige revealed one big tradition that he does every time a new Marvel movie comes out. The President of Marvel Studios talked to Variety about how he sneaks into the back of new releases whenever one hits theaters. Feige explained that he will get into one of the showings on opening night just to gauge audience reactions. Moments like Avengers: Endgame‘s big reveals and Black Panther were eye-opening moments for him. You could clearly see the impact this all had on fans. While Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might not have inspired the same fervor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 really delivered, hopefully The Marvels can balance things out.

“We’ve had a tradition at Marvel Studios that started with the very first ‘Iron Man.’ For every new release, the cast, producers, director, and I will drop in on an opening night showing and watch the movie with the fans,” Feige said. “Feeling the excitement in the theater, hearing cheers or gasps from the audience, is always a reminder of what these movies and characters mean to fans.”

The executive’s added, “Being there on opening night of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ hearing the crowds, is something I’ll never forget. Also, the feedback we received after ‘Black Panther’ came out. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would have the kind of impact it did.”

Kevin Feige Muses on The MCU’s Future

With Loki Season 2 already rolling and The Marvels fast-approaching, it’s a busy Fall for Marvel Studios. Variety also asked Kevin Feige about the future of the MCU. In his answer, he pointed towards the long history of the comics division. While the MCU is already heading towards Secret Wars, there is still so much comics history that they haven’t even gotten to on the big screen yet. It feels like as long as the crowds keep showing up for each project, there will be more stories.

Feige told the outlet, “The great thing about Marvel truly is how many wonderful, interesting characters we have in the comics — they’ve been at it for 85 years. Even after 32 movies, it feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface.”

Marvel TV Gets A Revamp

Marvel Studios is currently reformatting their TV division after some problems with Daredevil: Born Again. A Hollywood Reporter piece outlined this new strategy. (That some observers on the Internet have said has more to do with the writers strike than just Daredevil…) Basically, each show will have a showrunner like in traditional TV. This change makes a lot of sense and fans were generally receptive to the news online. However, the wait for Daredevil continues to stretch on.

Marvel’s head of streaming Brad Winderbaum was asked about showrunners. He said, “It’s a term we’ve not only grown comfortable with but also learned to embrace… We need executives that are dedicated to this medium, that are going to focus on streaming, focus on television, because they are two different forms.” 

“We’re trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture,” Winderbaum continued in the report. “It comes down to, ‘How can we tell stories in television that honor what’s so great about the source material?’”

Would you love to have a celebrity surprise you at one of these screenings? Let us know down in the comments!