While Marvel Studios is well known for having its massively interconnected cinematic universe that weaves between shows, movies, and individual franchises, the case is the same with some of the people who develop these projects.
Phase Four saw this early on with WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer, who also co-wrote 2019's Captain Marvel and 2021's Black Widow before inking a three-year deal to lead the way on more MCU entries. Malcolm Spellman is also set to move to Captain America 4 after his run of success writing The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for Disney+.
The next instance of this kind of crossover will come with Michael Waldron, who is serving as the head writer on Loki while also having developed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
With so much crossover on the MCU's movies and shows behind the scenes, bonds are forming between writers and directors who may not necessarily have to work together for one specific entry. This was a subject of conversation for a staff member on a later Phase 4 entry, who had an interesting way of describing what happens behind the scenes.
MARVEL STUDIOS: IT'S ALL CONNECTED
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness spoke about Loki head writer Michael Waldron's work with Marvel Studios in a piece by Vanity Fair.
Forming a friendship with Waldron and WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer, Loveness revealed how Waldron "collaborated on some story stuff" with him while still in the midst of "his highly strenuous shoot and running another show" and "working on another secret movie." He joked about how there's "always going to be 10 movies that yours ties into" and how changes affect everything in the MCU (like Doctor Strange 2) and even shows in other universes:
“He was still in the middle of his highly strenuous shoot and running another show, and working on another secret movie and he came onto our Zoom and collaborated on some story stuff. It's like swimming in the ocean over there. There's always going to be 10 movies that yours ties into. They're going to change Doctor Strange so that it will affect Ant-Man and that'll affect season eight of The Mandalorian.”
Waldron continued to describe the conversations he's had about the MCU with people like Loveness, who's "dealing with the Quantum Realm" while Waldron was "dealing with time travel and the multi-verse." Waldron even admitted that some of their chats "are probably illegal to have, digitally," although it helps the team feel more like a unified family:
"Jeff’s dealing with the Quantum Realm and I was dealing with time travel and the multi-verse. Our conversations are probably illegal to have, digitally. We have to meet on a bridge somewhere."
MARVEL'S EXTENDED FAMILY COMING TOGETHER
It's simply great to see that Marvel's continuing to do such a great job not only with connecting their projects on screen but also with the staff who bring them to life.
While movies like the Ant-Man threequel and the Doctor Strange sequel may not have an obvious connection story-wise, the writers and directors behind them seem to be building quite the relationship under the MCU umbrella. Due to these movies all coming together to form a cohesive story, that relationship should only help the cohesion come together even more tightly in the MCU.
As more Marvel Studios' projects arrive on the big and small screens, fans will certainly be paying close attention to how these stories mesh with one another from one franchise to another. It will also be fun to see just how much more the relationships between Marvel's various staff members strengthens as Phase 4 continues to evolve.
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