By now you probably all know who Kevin Feige is – if not, he’s the current President of Marvel Studios and is now responsible for bringing us Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Avengers. He began his Marvel career as associate producer on Bryan Singer’s X-Men in 1998, even though it didn’t hit theaters until 2000. Now a decade later he looks back at how comic book movies have become so much more than just a fad and how there’s so much more in store in their future. “As the year 2000 dawned, Marvel Comics had only recently escaped bankruptcy and the company’s future stood on shaky ground at best. Flash forward 10 years.”

“With landmark achievements in film, animation, publishing and digital media behind it, Marvel not only solidified its hold on the comic book world, [but] it established itself as an incredibly successful worldwide entertainment brand with few peers.” Feige talks about the past decade over on Marvel.com although I’ve pulled some of his best comments below. He has some great stories to tell and so much to say, so read on!

And Along Came a Spider, Again
In 2004 came “Spider-Man 2.” I think that was one of the best films we’ve ever done. Again, with the sequel, we were able to get the origins out of the way and focus on the character and his relationships with those around him. There was even talk of Alfred Molina being up for an Oscar [for his performance as Doctor Octopus].

Mining the Marvel Universe
The mid-decade also brought the “Fantastic Four,” “Punisher” and “Elektra” films. This got studios wanting to move forward with a lot of the characters faster. Things got a little out of our hands then. That’s when we started thinking above making the movies internally. When the day finally came that we had our own studio, that’s when everything changed.

I could not agree with him more! Not only is Spider-Man 2 one of my all-time favorite comic book movies, but he’s dead on with the comment about how making movies under one roof, not with multiple studios, is a much better idea. They really did learn from their mistakes. I absolutely love Feige because he knows what he’s doing. He’s one of the best executives working in Hollywood right now and I can’t wait to see what’s in the store for the future of Marvel Studios this upcoming decade. Speaking of which, Feige ends with this:

Hammer Time
To be honest the thing that I’m most excited about right now though, is the screen test we just finished for “Thor.” We’ve done some costume tests and watching the Asgardians walk onto the sound stage takes me back to that first time I saw the X-Men on the set all together in Toronto. Only it was unlike anything we’ve ever put on film before! It’s great to be starting the next decade in such an exciting way just as we did last decade. We’re really redefining the comic book genre and what a Marvel movie can be. It’s going to be great.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this so far, I suggest heading to Marvel.com and reading Feige’s full report on the last decade. He talks about how casting Ian McKellen as Magneto and Patrick Stewart as Xavier “set the bar pretty high.” And how Spider-Man 3 was “too much of a good thing” and that they’ve learned that “bigger is not always better” moving forward. It’s not only quite a relief (knowing he’s this smart), but also inspiring and exciting, to hear Feige talk about all of this. It’s fascinating to see how far they’ve come in a decade and exciting to think about where they’re heading next. Bring on more awesome Marvel movies, I can’t wait!

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