Got Marvel? The first fully authorized, all access history of Marvel Studios is in bookstores now.
The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a two-volume hardcover collection that details the rise of the studio into an cinematic force, chronicling all 23 films that make up the beloved “Infinity Saga,” featuring talks with the actors, producers and creatives — including Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige.
Feige, who started as an associate producer on X-Men, tells ABC Audio that one of the invaluable lessons he learned during his early days was decision-making, and recalled some of the “risks” X-Men took, “like casting a six-foot-three Hugh Jackman to play the five-foot-two Wolverine and ultimately saying…embodying the spirit of the character that is more important than getting your ruler out and matching it perfectly to the comics.”
Feige also learned the importance of having the right filmmaker for the job, despite experience level, because “they have a story to tell and a vision of how to tell it in a unique and different way.”
The Story Of Marvel Studios was a years-long effort by co-authors Tara Bennet and Paul Terry — but don’t think this is merely a book chronicling the exploits of on-screen superheroes. “There’s so many personal stories,” Terry said. “We see the spectacle of the movies but these are human beings with ideas! And those ideas evolve and become the MCU that we love.”
Speaking of Marvel, Bennet pointed out that what makes Marvel Studios different is their ability to retain and grow talent.
“This is a place where people have stayed,” she said, noting how people who “started out from getting people coffee… [to] now being an EP on Endgame.”
Marvel is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
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