The unprecedented and all-conquering success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe requires a lot of moving parts working in perfect harmony, but it all starts at the top with architect and company chief creative officer Kevin Feige.
The super-producer was only 33 years old when he was first named as Marvel Studios’ president of production in March 2007, and has since reinvented the landscape of the industry as we know it. With that in mind, it’s no surprise he’s been called a genius by many peers and collaborators, but the MCU’s “secret sauce” has now become the latest random buzzword used to praise the superhero series.
Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab used the term to describe the most popular franchise on the planet, and now Avengers: Endgame co-helmer Joe Russo uttered identical terminology in an interview with Deadline.
“Well, Marvel’s secret sauce is that Kevin likes the films to be entertaining, right? And entertaining typically involves humor, and I think that Kevin’s very big on testing movies and I think he likes to sit in the test screening and hear the response. So the audience’s laughing, you can hear their response.
You can understand, ‘Okay, every 2 minutes [they] are getting some enjoyment out of the movie,’ and that’s a strong way for him to gauge how the movie will perform with an audience, right? So I think humor is very important to him.”
Much like Colonel Sanders’ famed blend of herbs and spices, plenty of Hollywood competitors have tried and failed to replicate Feige’s recipe, so he’s clearly been keeping the secret sauce ingredients to himself.
