Fighting against unbreakable forces
Marvel had already achieved what seemed impossible. She had managed to develop a consistent cinematographic universe where several of the greatest superheroes in history could coexist in the same film and not decompensate. What followed was an even bigger challenge: making them face each other.
It was quite an ambitious move to convert Captain America: Civil Warthe last film in the trilogy led by Chris Evans, in a kind of Avengers 2.5 where the biggest confrontation occurs between the heroes themselves. Carrying it out was a real headache for the studio, as reported in the book MCU – The Reign of Marvel Studios.
One of the big problems was Robert Downey Jr.. The actor was the most visible face of Marvel’s success, and his salary had to be in line with being the representative of this phenomenon. Only for The Avengers He collected 50 million dollars, and for iron Man 3 His salary and benefits already amounted to 70 million. Make a fourth Hombre de Hierro became unviable, but keeping Downey in supporting appearances also became expensive. Something that was also going to be key for Captain America: Civil War (that and the guarantee that he wasn’t going to be the villain).
But that posed a problem for the committee created by Marvel Enterprises, which oversaw not only the content of Marvel Studios films but also their costs. Budget Captain America: Civil War was going to be shot, and they demanded a draft of the script that had a more moderate cost. And the most important cut was the presence of Iron Man, at a certain point completely removed from the film.
An implacable committee
Kevin Feige stood up to Marvel’s management, but they did not give in. It was a constant for years, but it intensified with this ambitious film, with the “notes to improve the story” becoming outright negatives. And sometimes the decision not to give in came from a member of the board who issued the orders. According to one of the producers at Marvel Studios, the entire process “It became unbearable. We all had to swallow it. We put up with it for too many years”.
Tarantino believes that Marvel has changed the concept of the Hollywood star and Chris Evans agrees with him: “You don’t have to be the center”
The producer ended up finding an ally in Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, which owned Marvel. The manager ended up interceding in the conflicts between the studio and the company, demanding that they “stop putting obstacles” in the work that was being done to develop the UCM. This support gave more creative freedom and budget powerbeing able to make other great and popular hits such as Civil War.
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