Marvel Studios Facing New Era in Massive shakeup

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Hey. If it was working fine before. Why change it now?

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by UK_fan_05

I find it funny this story "breaks" and now people are like "Yeah this group of guys have been holding these films back" and acting like its the second coming. Oh Internet, you amuse me.

I don't think it's so much a second coming as much as it'll usher in better product under Feige. I love the hell out of Age of Ultron, but the committees forced hand in the middle of the movie is glaringly obvious. They forced Joss to cut one thing for another he wanted, when they could have allowed the movie ten more minutes of time easily. Stuff like that hurts in the long run, and I think without their notes, we might get a chance to see a little more freedom from Feige to do what he and the filmmakers seem necessary.

[The Debts]

I remember reading about Ike a while back in an article on the Hollywood Reporter (I think. It was either that or Variety). In response to his departure I will say this: Good riddance.

[UK_fan_05]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I don't think it's so much a second coming as much as it'll usher in better product under Feige. I love the hell out of Age of Ultron, but the committees forced hand in the middle of the movie is glaringly obvious. They forced Joss to cut one thing for another he wanted, when they could have allowed the movie ten more minutes of time easily. Stuff like that hurts in the long run, and I think without their notes, we might get a chance to see a little more freedom from Feige to do what he and the filmmakers seem necessary.

Where's the articles on these guys being the ones who have been messing with the films and changing their quality? Holding the films back? This comes out of nowhere and now people "in the know" are saying "Finally! These guys are gone and Marvel is free".

To me this just seems like people with a Disney complex justifying anything they do as the gospel.

[SlayersCouncil]

Originally Posted by spectre08

well the managed to push Edgar Wright out of the way before he Scott Pilgrimized a good movie, so the creative committee couldn't be all bad.

Originally Posted by willtopower

I'm so glad we got a really good movie instead of a really great movie too.

I was upset when Wright left. I was really looking forward to his take on the character.

.....then I found out what he wanted to do. Then I was happy it was taken over by someone else.

[Johnny Blu]

Why are some people so quick in assuming this will be an improvement? Obviously, only time will tell. I don't see how having a committee, with some of whom are deeply devoted to Marvel comics, can be seen as a bad thing. Are we assuming that the committee has made no beneficial contributions when it comes to each movie and how each connects? What if some of those shortened scenes actually helped to keep another story line open or would give way to another story line, as opposed to closing one with an extended scene? Plus lets not forget, that some of these directors are focused on their movie first, and sometimes don't appreciate the bigger picture, which is where the committee and Feige would step in. BTW, do any future ideas basically just need Kevin Feige's approval now?

[jbloggs]

Great, so now there is nothing stopping them having marvel characters in Star Wars universe

[X400]

amazing that you guys are rooting for hollywood producers to be set loose on the Marvel Universe instead of 'the committee' who, other than Ike, make up the creators of modern day Marvel...

personally this sounds scary...given hollywood producers history of turning gold into turds

[MrBlonde]

Will this lead to better movies?

We can only hope.

[MrBlonde]

Just read the article. Brian Michael Bendis was on the committee...Jesus Christ this explains so much.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by UK_fan_05

Where's the articles on these guys being the ones who have been messing with the films and changing their quality? Holding the films back? This comes out of nowhere and now people "in the know" are saying "Finally! These guys are gone and Marvel is free".

To me this just seems like people with a Disney complex justifying anything they do as the gospel.

Here's Whedon talking about butting heads with the executives (AKA the Committee group) on Ultron:

As it turns out, Avengers: Age of Ultron's battles didn't only happen on screen.

Director Joss Whedon told Empire Film Podcast (minor spoilers ahead) that Marvel brass weren't thrilled with the scene in the film in which Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) visits his family at their farmhouse, along with the moments when the characters experience dream sequences. On the other hand, the studio was quite adamant about including the segment involving Erik (Stellan Skarsgard) joining Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in a cave.

"The dreams were not an executive favorite either — the dreams, the farmhouse, these were things I fought to keep," Whedon said. "With the cave, it really turned into: They pointed a gun at the farm's head and said, 'Give us the cave, or we'll take out the farm' — in a civilized way. I respect these guys, they're artists, but that's when it got really, really unpleasant."

Whedon explained that there was additional footage shot in the cave, but much of it was cut, as test audiences didn't respond to it. He said there was even a point at which studio notes led to the cave sequence getting excised completely: "I was so beaten down at that point that I was like, 'Sure, OK — what movie is this?' And the editors were like, 'No. You have to show the [events in the cave]. You can't just say it.' "

Whedon also wanted Captain Marvel and Spider-Man to appear toward the end of the film, but alas, business got in the way, as Marvel and Sony didn't agree to team on the Spider-Man franchise until February. Additionally, Captain Marvel has yet to be cast. "I would have put both of them [in Ultron], but neither of the deals were made," Whedon said about the characters.

BadAssDigest had a whole article about this as well with Wright and Marvel, and the notes that eventually forced him to leave. Ike, and the group, have been problematic from time to time. It's not an always thing, but it's enough that they have hurt some of their own films with notes that really don't necessarily make things better. Movies like The Dark World and Age of Ultron could have benefited from being longer, not shorter as mandated by the group, etc. It's things that have been talked about a lot, and as someone who clearly loves the MCU, I'd like to see what Feige can do now without them handing a lot of notes to the filmmakers. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but I have a feeling without Ike breathing down people's necks, and the group disbanded, the MCU can see much better days with Feige leading the charge fully. Just my two cents.

[Tony208]

^Without the farm house, Ultron is just another cgi fest. Those scenes are the character arcs.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by Tony208

^Without the farm house, Ultron is just another cgi fest. Those scenes are the character arcs.

Exactly. That stuff really needed to be there. Though, I do think that they had notes that Edgar did't like that included having more of Hope in Ant-Man, which I actually thought ended up being better for the film. But more often than note over the last two or three years, the group has become hard to fight through. You add on to that what was happening with Ike, and it's clear that Feige and his team were facing an almost daily uphill battle with their films. To me, it shows just how good at what he does Feige is, and make good-to-great films, even with odds. I think that shows his true passion for the material. I'm hoping we'll see more of that now with Feige and his two collaborators calling all the shots now.

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by MrBlonde

Will this lead to better movies?

We can only hope.

If these movies got any better than they already are I think my head might explode.

Other than Feige having free reign now, well hopefully, the only thing I see happening with this is Edgar Wright fanboys get to continue to go on about his version of Ant-Man and what could have been had there not been a committee. But hopefully they can move on from that and we never have to hear about Wright and Ant-Man ever again.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Tony208

^Without the farm house, Ultron is just another cgi fest. Those scenes are the character arcs.

I still love Fury's line to Tony about the tractor: "Just don't bring it to life." That made me laugh.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Johnny Blu

Why are some people so quick in assuming this will be an improvement? Obviously, only time will tell. I don't see how having a committee, with some of whom are deeply devoted to Marvel comics, can be seen as a bad thing. Are we assuming that the committee has made no beneficial contributions when it comes to each movie and how each connects? What if some of those shortened scenes actually helped to keep another story line open or would give way to another story line, as opposed to closing one with an extended scene? Plus lets not forget, that some of these directors are focused on their movie first, and sometimes don't appreciate the bigger picture, which is where the committee and Feige would step in. BTW, do any future ideas basically just need Kevin Feige's approval now?

Committees for movies are generally bad things (you know the old quote: "a camel is a horse designed by a committee"), but I think it's really naive to think that there isn't a parallel committee at Disney, whether formal or informal. No one invests in $200 million movies without severe oversight.

What's most likely (and I have no inside info) is that Disney's committee didn't like Marvel's committee.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

Committees for movies are generally bad things (you know the old quote: "a camel is a horse designed by a committee"), but I think it's really naive to think that there isn't a parallel committee at Disney, whether formal or informal. No one invests in $200 million movies without severe oversight.

What's most likely (and I have no inside info) is that Disney's committee didn't like Marvel's committee.

The new committee is Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Victoria Alonso. It's not that they're answering to no one, they'll be answering to Horn. But they have their own in house committee with the people who have been spending the most time on these movies to make the calls that should be made. Not a committee that takes forever, or sends less than helpful notes to cut things for run time, and causing frustration with viewers. I think this is a best of both worlds scenario, so we'll have to see how it plays out.

[trainreck]

I always assumed there was some sort of behind the scenes group leading the MCU but didn't realize that they could be causing so much trouble for Feige. I've enjoyed everything in the MCU so far and am hoping that this can only lead to more good/great movies in the years to come.

[X400]

Originally Posted by Tony208

^Without the farm house, Ultron is just another cgi fest. Those scenes are the character arcs.

i actually hated the whole Hawkeye secret family thing

the scenes with the farmhouse wese nice (stark fixing the tractor, chopping wood), but Fury would have been better off, or equally good (if you liked it), with a different entrance than hiding in the barn

[Drookur]

Originally Posted by X400

i actually hated the whole Hawkeye secret family thing



the scenes with the farmhouse wese nice (stark fixing the tractor, chopping wood), but Fury would have been better off, or equally good (if you liked it), with a different entrance than hiding in the barn

I agree with this. I loved the "quiet" scenes like everyone trying to lift Thor's hammer scene, the wood chopping scene, the conversation with Fury, Thor stepping on the Legos. All very entertaining character moments (maybe not the Lego part )

I didn't think Cardellini and Renner had any chemistry. I usually like Whedon's quippy dialogue but I HATED the "I fully support your avenging" and that whole conversation. I get the intent was to humanize the superhuman gods and bring them down to Hawkeye's very human level but the dialogue was too pedestrian. And there was the clunky continuation of Bruce/Natasha which also didn't work. Plus Thor goes on that side quest that's edited to oblivion.

The movie feels like it derails at this point and, while the rest is still really enjoyable, doesn't have the same flow and tightness IMO. Would this have been fixed with less of the creative committee? I'm not so sure given how much had to be addressed and set up for Phase 3. But I could see how that would fit with what Whedon's expressed about the experience on AoU. Either way, I look forward to see what happens from here on and hope we get some more news about the Phase 3 movies and the Netflix shows soon!