Marvel’s Kevin Feige reportedly once had talks with DC Films

It’s hard to imagine the Marvel Cinematic Universe without Kevin Feige. The Marvel Studios president was first hired as an associate producer on the very first X-Men movie. He then moved up the ranks and worked tirelessly to develop the MCU into one of the biggest media franchises of all time. However, there was apparently a time when Kevin Feige considered jumping ship over to DC.

According to a report via Puck about Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zazlav’s restructuring of the company, Kevin Feige once considered leaving Marvel Studios due to frustrations with Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter.

Zaslav could make another run at Feige, who, I’m told, talked pretty seriously with Warners a few years ago when he was angling to escape the oversight of Marvel’s then-madman C.E.O. Ike Perlmutter. (Iger and Horn ended up siding with Feige, smartly.) And Warners has in the past reached out to Louis D’Esposito and other key Feige deputies, with no luck… Zaz has been looking, but given Feige’s stature in town and the inevitable comparisons between Marvel and DC, this is among the most thankless high-profile gigs in entertainment.

Kevin Feige had long wanted to break free from Ike Perlmutter, who was deemed to be overly controlling and thrifty, so it’s possible that Feige may have taken meetings with Warner Bros. to serve the same role in the DC Universe. Thankfully, it was announced in 2015 that Feige would instead report directly to Disney chairman Alan Horn.

The DC Universe has had its successes, but they haven’t reached the heights of the MCU. Does DC need their own Kevin Feige? David Zazlav clearly seems to think so. It was reported earlier this week that the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO had approached Joker director Todd Phillips to “do more in the DC Universe” and potentially act as an advisor of the larger franchise. Walter Hamada currently oversees the production of the DC Universe and other DC projects, but a report about the exit of Toby Emmerich as Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman noted that Hamada’s fate was unclear.

What do you think? Does DC need their own Kevin Feige?