When Kevin Feige envisioned the grand plan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was not as common as the universe-building trend that every studio seems to be following now. It was an innovative period in filmmaking history as nobody had done it before. And at its foundation were the original Avengers.
According to the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Feige had a dinner with the main cast of The Avengers to lay out his plans for the future of the MCU. While most were impressed and were in awe, Thor star Chris Hemsworth was reportedly skeptical about it coming to fruition.
Kevin Feige Built The MCU From Ground Up
Kevin Feige was the one who spearheaded the studios’ efforts to produce their own films based on the Avengers characters, to which Marvel still owned the rights. Feige was reportedly excited to build a shared universe much like the comics as early as 2006 and was heading the efforts to make it happen.
In an old interview with Movie Web, Kevin Feige spoke about his and his team’s enthusiasm to make the shared universe and how they were going about it. He said,
“It’s never been done before and that’s kind of the spirit everybody’s taking it in…My goal is that moviegoers have that same experience comic book readers had, that when you turn the page anybody can pop up and any other character can come into it.”
After the success of films like Iron Man and Thor, the studio kickstarted its plans to make the crossover film The Avengers, with that being the first endpoint to Feige’s plan.
Chris Hemsworth Was Skeptical About Kevin Feige’s Masterplan
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time. The Kevin Feige-headed shared universe has collectively earned over $29 billion at the box office. The series of films and shows have been split across phases and the universe is currently in its fifth phase.
However, none of it would be possible without Kevin Feige’s long-term vision of creating such a shared universe. The producer reportedly laid forth his blueprint for the universe to the main Avengers cast in a late-night dinner on the premiere day for The Avengers.
According to the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Feige laid out grand plans for the MCU which was something that had never been done before in filmmaking history. Mark Ruffalo was reportedly blown away by the plan. However, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth was more skeptical about the producer’s grand blueprint. He said,
“I thought, ‘Let’s just make the first one’..If I don’t screw that up, I thought maybe I might be in the first Avengers movie, but I never thought there’d be a second one.”
The actor also reportedly tried to tell Kevin Feige the importance of the production team rather than the actors to make the plan succeed. Despite his skepticism, however, Hemsworth is one of the only actors of the original Avengers to have stayed on and was last seen in the Phase Four offering, Thor: Love and Thunder.
