You’d expect Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige to have a lot of pride in his own work in changing what a superhero movie could be. But actually, he thinks the greatest influence on the genre came from his comic book rivals over at DC.
Feige might be the man behind shaping the MCU, but it’s actually Christopher Nolan’s 2005 epic Batman Begins that he considers to be among the best superhero movies ever made – or at least the most influential. He certainly credits Nolan’s trilogy with paving the way for the new movies Marvel has made since (giving us a hell of a job to keep that Marvel movies in order guide up to date) and showing how big superheroes could be.
“Chris Nolan’s Batman is the greatest thing that happened because it bolstered everything,” Feige told Wired in 2012, explaining how much Batman Begins and The Dark Knight changed the game. “Imagine the one-two punch in 2008 of Iron Man and Dark Knight? It was great.”
Feige added: “Six years earlier I was having conversations with studio execs where they’d say: ‘Why don’t you come work for us? These comic book movies can’t last forever. It’s probably towards the tail end’. And I, being with big bright-eyed naiveté, would go: ‘I don’t know, I think we can do more. I think there’s more fun to be had’.”
It would be the ultimate understatement to say that Feige was proved right. Since Nolan redefined the superhero world with some of the best movies ever made in the comic book biz, everything has gone from strength to strength.
We also really appreciate Feige for his willingness to praise the movies coming from the other side of the fence. Marvel has been dominant ever since Nolan said farewell, and the dark cloud of the DCEU fell over the house that Batman and Superman built.
Zack Snyder took Nolan’s ideas and ran with them, cranking up the darkness even further with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. Meanwhile, the colorful, quip-heavy world of the most popular Marvel characters proved to be exactly what we all wanted.
Now, though, it’s all to play for. The list of upcoming Marvel movies isn’t as exciting as it was a decade ago, while James Gunn’s Gods and Monsters plan for DC, starting with Superman Legacy in 2025, looks fascinating. The super-throne is up for grabs.
But if you’re after more from DC, you can check out our guide to the upcoming DC movies as well as all of the DC movies in order. Alternatively, find out why we don’t expect to see this very cool version of Superman in the DC movies.
Meanwhile, over at Marvel, we think Loki might have just reset the multiverse and we’re counting down the days until we can see The Marvels.