Why 'Captain America: Civil War' Almost Forced Kevin Feige to Quit Marvel

There was a real behind-the-scenes clash during the making of Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" that nearly led to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige leaving the company.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Feige wasn't happy about having to report to New York-based Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, who wanted to keep a lid on the budget for the sequel that's so big, it's being referred to as "Avengers 2.5." The film, as fans well know, pits Captain America against Iron Man and features just about every one of the Avengers line-up.

"New York wanted to scale it down," an insider tells THR, referring not just to Perlmutter, but to the in-house "creative committee," a group of executives from Marvel's various divisions that includes Alan Fine, Perlmutter's right-hand man.

"New York had a big say for a long time, but hasn't Kevin earned the right to some autonomy? He's made the company billions. Why is he reporting to a 72-year-old man who doesn't make movies?" an insider is quoted as saying.

Now, Feige will report to Disney Studios chief Alan Horn instead of Perlmutter, giving him much more freedom in calling the shots. And the "creative committee" has essentially been disbanded, according to Birth Movies Death. The notes from the nit-picky group is what forced Edgar Wright to leave "Ant-Man," according to the site.

Marvel's TV unit, which includes "Agents of SHIELD" and "Agent Carter" on ABC and "Daredevil" on Netflix will still report to Perlmutter, according to THR and Birth Movies Death expects that some form of the committee might still oversee TV production.

According to THR, Feige was close to leaving Marvel until Disney CEO Bob Iger approved the reorganization.

A "top player" tells THR, "I think it will be smoother and easier without Ike."

According to Birth Movies Death, Perlmutter was the sole roadblock to creating Black Widow toys, simply because he didn't think girls would play with them. With him gone, can we finally expect some Black Widow merchandise? It'll take awhile for any major changes to take place, so it's unlikely we'll see Black Widow goods by the time "Captain America: Civil War" opens on May 6, 2016.

Disney and Marvel both declined to comment to THR.

from The Moviefone Blog http://ift.tt/1NSnfqj
via IFTTT