Kevin Feige: Superheroes aren't a shortcut to success

The president of Marvel Studios said that putting a famous superhero in a film does not guarantee the success of one.

It's a fact that 2021 has been an incredible year for Marvel Studios and its president, Kevin Feige. After spending an almost forgotten 2020, this year the company had a spectacular comeback presenting four superhero feature films, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home. With this latest film, the third installment of Tom Holland's Spider-Man trilogy, Marvel closes with a flourish, taking the recognition of having produced the most outstanding film of the entire year.

Despite the undisputed glory the company takes home with No Way Home and the rest of its 2021 projects, some movie fans are still debating its massive success, and attribute it to the popularity of the character and its fanbase, and not to the quality that the film could have. However, the head of Marvel Studios says that simply putting a superhero in a movie is not a resource that will ensure the triumph of a film. Feige said that the inclusion of a famous superhero within the world of comics does not represent any shortcut, secret code or magic recipe, but that everything is due to more important factors such as the plot and the script.

The Academy was founded for this reason!

Many viewers also agree with these words, as they are sure that No Way Home has done so well because of the history and emotion that people have been feeling for over 20 years. In a recent interview for The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Feige, Tom Holland and other Senior Sony officials met and discussed some issues in relation to the film and in particular about the possibility of winning an Oscar. Feige, who has personally overseen numerous projects during his career, said not all of them end up being a hit, no matter which superheroes they include. His words were as follows:

Making a commercial film that can say something and mean something to many different types of people around the world is extremely difficult and I think they often dismiss it as something easy. Well, you have a superhero inside the film, and they think it's a shortcut to success. It's not. Putting on a costume is no secret. The secret is to have artists, storytellers and artisans who can take the audience on a journey. And when critics acknowledge that and the public acknowledges it, it feels like it's worth talking about the Academy's recognition. And that, I think, is what we'll continue to talk about over the next few weeks.

During the same interview, Kevin pointed out some of the disadvantages facing the superhero genre in general in this Academy contest that rewards the best in cinema every year. These were the words of the president of the company:

I think both types of films deserve recognition. It's good when people are in a cinema and stand up and cheer. It's a good thing when people wipe away their tears because they're thinking about their last 20 years of cinema and what it's meant to them. That, to me, is a very good thing, the kind of thing for which they founded the Academy.