Talk about Avengers disassembled. If you’ve been paying attention to the developments behind the scenes at Marvel Entertainment, you’ve noticed that there has been quite a shake up. First, Walt Disney Studios restructured the chain of command so that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios would no longer fall under the jurisdiction of Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter. Then, reports emerged saying that this adjustment dissolved the Marvel Creative Committee, which consisted of COO Joe Quesada, publisher Dan Buckley, President Alan Fine, and influential comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis. While many have been worried about how these changes would affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe positively or negatively, some may argue that we might see some things get better, especially for the filmmakers. You see, rumor has it that the Creative Committee was a big reason why Edgar Wright left ‘Ant-Man’ last year.
According to Birth.Movies.Death, the Marvel Creative Committee has been frustrating to work with for some time. Though having the brain trust is a good idea in theory, their sources say that interference can be on the excessive side:
“Over the years I’ve heard many stories of the Creative Committee giving notes that are pedestrian, motivated by ‘save the cat’ story logic and sometimes a drag on creativity. One Marvel creative talked to me about battles with the Creative Committee where they focused on details of nit-picky science that ignored the general tone of the script itself. The notes that drove Edgar Wright off ‘Ant-Man’ came from the Creative Committee.”
When this all initially went down, it was said that rewrites and creative differences were the main reason for the ‘Shaun of the Dead’ filmmaker’s exit. It wasn’t clear at the time whether the friction was between Wright and Feige or someone else, but now it sounds like the director clashed with Quesada, Buckley, Bendis, and company. For all we know, they could have been the forces that kept ‘Selma’ director Ava DuVernay from helming ‘Black Panther’. Though the committee had an integral part in the studios’ success so far and the overall success of Marvel as a whole over the years, if they’re keeping talented individuals from these projects that need some high caliber talent behind them, then it probably is time that the group was disbanded. That’s not to say that the group should be disassembled entirely, but rather new faces should be brought in to carry out the duties of the committee. Time will tell if Feige and his new boss Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn will assemble another group similar to this one or if Feige will take on the responsibilities himself.
What do you think about Marvel Studios disbanding the Marvel Creative Committee? Do you think that they should be broken up due to the fact that they had something to do with Edgar Wright’s departure from ‘Ant-Man’? And do you think that Kevin Feige and Alan Horn will put together a new group to offer notes and weigh in to keep the characters represented as they should be? Sound off in the comments below.
