Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah recently revealed that Marvel Studios President and Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige is a big fan of the DC Extended Universe.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, El Arbi and Fallah explained how they discovered Feige's affection for the DCEU after announcing they had agreed to direct a project set in the rival shared universe. "We wrote [Marvel Studios] an email that said we were going to do Batgirl, and then Kevin Feige, Victoria [Alonso] and Lou [D’Esposito] all said, 'Congratulations!'" said Fallah. "They were super happy for us. People say there's a rivalry, but it's totally not like that." El Arbi agreed with his long-time directing partner, adding, "[Marvel and DC] are big fans of each other. Kevin was constantly asking questions, 'How’s it going? What's going to happen?' He was a real fanboy, so that was pretty dope."
Feige's DCEU appreciation tracks with a recent report that he nearly jumped ship from Marvel Studios to Warner Bros. several years ago. According to this report, the Marvel Studios President "talked pretty seriously" with Warner Bros. about stepping in to lead its slate of DC-inspired superhero films. These discussions apparently took place after clashes over the direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe between Feige and Marvel Entertainment Chairman and former CEO Ike Perlmutter became increasingly more frequent.
Ultimately, Feige decided to stick with Marvel Studios, and he's currently shepherding Phase Four of the MCU. He recently spoke about how one of his goals with this chapter of the franchise is ensuring each movie and TV show is different, tonally and stylistically. "I like very much that people say, 'Look, [the Phase Four projects are] all different.' Because that's how we always feel about them and always want them to feel," he said. As an example of this, Feige cited the intentional shift between the edgier vibe of Moon Knight and the more light-hearted tone of the Disney+ series that directly followed it, Ms. Marvel.
At least one of Feige's Phase Four decisions has put him at odds with one superhero actor, though. Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani recently discussed her ongoing debate with the MCU boss about the MCU's place in the wider Marvel continuity. "Every time I talk to Kevin, we have this argument where I say, 'The MCU is not [set on Earth-616]... He's like, 'It is because I said so.' I’m like, 'No, it's 199999. He hates it," she recalled.
Ms. Marvel is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes arriving Wednesdays.