Warner Bros. recently appointed James Gunn and Peter Safran as the heads of DC Universe, however, the studio’s first choice may have been none other than Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
Neil Turitz at Above the Line, an outlet run by credible industry insider Jeff Sneider, reports that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav initially approached the one and only Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige himself to lead the DC Universe.
As Turitz writes, during Zaslav’s search for a DC leader similar to Kevin Feige’s role at Marvel Studios, he actually asked Feige himself if he might be interested in taking this role, but Feige politely declined to be considered.
In the past, Feige once considered leaving Marvel for DC due to frustrations under former Marvel CEO, Ike Perlmutter. However, this decision did not materialize after Feige received a promotion at Marvel in 2015. It is Kevin Feige’s responsibility to oversee the enormously popular Marvel Cinematic Universe as the President of Marvel Studios. With the release of the first Iron Man in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) redefined blockbuster entertainment, introducing a concept of shared universes that remain popular 14 years later. With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever completing Phase 4, the MCU has grossed more than $25 billion worldwide at the box office.
However, with a great franchise comes, a great workload. The Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has been reported to be spreading too thin, which has caused a number of problems, including Tariq Bassam leaving the Blade movie. In part, this is because Marvel Studios is now doing a lot more than it used to. They don’t make two movies a year anymore, but three movies every year including 4-5 Disney+ TV shows. That’s a lot of work, and given the scale and responsibilities, it’s unlikely Kevin will move over to DC.
As of right now, Warner Bros. Discovery has found its own Kevin Feige in the form of James Gunn and Peter Safran.