Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, is a visionary, producer extraordinaire, and a fanboy for many elements of geek culture. He’s simply a passionate fan at heart, and he’s spoken publicly about his love of Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, and the DC Universe countless times. Furthermore, he comes across as a real approachable personality who is regarded to be easy to deal with both those in front of and behind the camera.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the filmmakers of Marvel Studios’ most recent Disney+ streaming series Ms. Marvel, have got the assignment of directing DC’s Batgirl film after their success with 2020’s Will Smith and Martin Lawrence buddy film, Bad Boys For Life. The directorial team will work with Leslie Grace to bring Barbara Gordon, nicknamed Batgirl, to life.
Of course, given his love in DC pictures, Feige wasn’t bashful about checking in with El Arbi and Fallah while they worked on the Batgirl project.
Feige was intrigued by Batgirl
Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall told The Hollywood Reporter that Marvel Studios’ chief creative officer Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel team were excited about the pair’s new directing assignment at the Distinguished Competition:
“Yeah, we sent an email to [Marvel Studios] that we were going to make Batgirl, and Kevin Feige, Victoria [Alonso], and Lou [D’Esposito] all responded, “Congratulations!”
They were overjoyed for us. People think there’s a rivalry, but it’s not the case. They strengthen each other, and we could feel the energy between DC and Marvel.”
El Arbi also said that Feige, in particular, was extremely collegially interested in how the Batgirl filmmakers were developing on their DC project, requesting updates such as “‘How are things going? ‘What are the chances?’ “:
“Yes, they are huge admirers of one another. Kevin was continuously asking, “How’s it going?” ‘What are the chances?’ That was extremely cool since he was a huge fan.”
The filmmakers also reflected on their experience creating Ms. Marvel, saying that the show’s visual flourishes were “not provided in the narrative” and were instead a concept of their own.
“The animation was not mentioned in the screenplay or concept art. We really wanted to produce something based on Into the Spider-Verse, and we thought we could make a live-action version of it. It was also critical for us to go into Kamala Khan’s brain and depict her fantasy and dream world. We adore animation and the comic-book look, and Kamala is a Marvel lover, so we decided to utilize animation to convey that. But, as Adil said, we were concerned that Marvel would reject it since it is so different from the previous series and movies. So we made a whole presentation off of YouTube videos, and Kevin Feige responded, ‘Yeah, I like that.’ Just don’t go too far. Use it for beneficial purposes, such as character and narrative.’ So we were taken aback.”
There is no Marvel vs. DC for those in power.
Many fans of these superhero flicks often set corporations against one another. While the tension is not as high as it once was, consumers continue to draw sharp parallels between Marvel Studios’ films and shows and the production of Warner Bros. and DC. This competition is not new, dating back to the 1960s, when comic books were at their peak.
Things aren’t nearly as hot among the upper brass at these studios.
Feige and company seem to be highly supportive of DC’s films, and vice versa. It’s good to see these two groups interacting in a polite and charitable manner. After all, they’re both simply trying to produce entertaining films.
And they may not even be the same genres. The DC film slate is significantly more grounded and realistic in tone, while the MCU embraces the fantastical. Variety is the spice of life, and Marvel and DC surely capitalize on that idea.
El Arbi and Fallah also mentioned the subtle aesthetic elements they added into Ms. Marvel and how they came up with them on their own. It obviously takes a leaf from the film version of Scott Piglrim vs. The World, which is full to the brim with those sorts of embellishments, as they indicated.
The Marvel Studios Ms. Marvel airs new episodes on Disney+ every Wednesday, while DC’s Batgirl will debut on HBO Max later this year.
