Marvel has inserted yet another Infinity Stone into Kevin Feige's gauntlet by naming him Chief Creative Officer of Marvel, in addition to remaining as president of Marvel Studios. What this means is that Feige will now be in charge of the overall creative direction of Marvel’s storytelling across mediums, including publishing, film, TV, and animation. With Feige stepping up, Marvel TV and Marvel Family Entertainment will now be flying under the Marvel Studios banner. As per his new position, Feige will continue to report to Walt Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Alan Horn and co-chairman Alan Bergman, when neccessary. To be clear, Feige's move to Chief Creative Officer of Marvel is expected to be finalized this week.
Now, because the jargon of Hollywood hierarchy can sometimes be a might confusing, I'm gonna break it all down for you. Dan Buckley, will remain the president of Marvel Entertainment. This position finds Buckley overseeing both the creative and editorial aspects of Marvel's publishing arm. He will now report to Feige. Furthermore, Buckley will also continue to oversee publishing operations, sales creative services, games, licensing and events related to Marvel Entertainment. For those matters he will report to Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter.
Meanwhile, Joe Quesado will remain as executive vice president, creative director for Marvel Entertainment, answering to Buckley. Marvel Entertainment’s vice president of content and character development Sana Amanat, editor in chief and head of global editorial CB Cebulski, and Stephen Wacker, vice president of creative and content development, will all be reporting to Buckley as well. (portions of the above breakdown hail from Variety)
According to a source who's close to the deal, no changes have been made to either current projects or those in development. The plan is for Feige and his team to evaluate each proposed project to determine its worth to the Marvel brand, overall.
Naturally, Feige's promotion to Chief Creative Officer comes after the Marvel mastermind had helped orchestrate a wealth of successful films and shows belonging to the beloved comic book brand. To give you a bit of perspective, Feige's contributions to Marvel's first decade of films resulted in a collective global gross of $26.8 billion. That number includes the legendary performances of films like AVENGERS: ENDGAME, CAPTAIN MARVEL and SPIDER-MAN; FAR FROM HOME, all of which are over a billion dollar earners.
With the MCU's Phase 5 plans quickly and quietly taking shape, it should come as no surprise that Marvel is eager to place the company's golden child at the head of the big table. Under Feige's instruction, the Marvel brand has grown by leaps and bounds, so it's only fitting that the House of Ideas would be looking to seat the creative in a prime position of power. What this means for the future of Marvel is anyone's guess, though it appears that the company is in great hands with Feige at the helm. Whether announced projects will continue as planned or end up on the cutting room floor remains to be seen, though one aspect of the company now remains crystal clear … Feige is the one wearing the gauntlet now. Long may he reign.