It’s easy to forget given the unprecedented success the Marvel Cinematic Universe has experienced over the last thirteen years, and will no doubt continue to enjoy for the foreseeable future, but Kevin Feige’s ascension up the Hollywood ranks was nothing short of meteoric.
25 years ago he was an assistant to producer Laura Shuler Donner on disaster epic Volcano and rom-com You’ve Got Mail, before her husband and filmmaking legend Richard was so impressed with his in-depth knowledge of Marvel lore that he was hired as an associate producer on Bryan Singer’s X-Men, which ultimately led to him being named as president of the fledgling Marvel Studios in March 2007 at the age of just 33.
Feige’s second-ever producing gig was as an associate on Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, before he was bumped up to executive producer on the second and third installments. Speaking to ScreenRant about No Way Home, the architect of the MCU admitted that’s part of the reason why the latest Spidey blockbuster is so important to him on a personal level.
“On a personal note, it’s very surreal with Willem being back and Alfred Molina being back from two movies that were at the very beginning of my career, and the first time I met Amy and watched her run a studio and put those movies together was amazing learning for me and now to be doing it together is surreal and a dream.”
These days, Feige is the person that every other major studio in Hollywood is looking to emulate, based solely on the number of shared universes to have sprung up in the wake of the MCU changing the game forever, and Spider-Man: No Way Home brings it full circle.
