If there's one thing that's remained throughout the entirety of the MCU, it's the leadership of Kevin Feige. The Marvel Studios president has helped shepherd dozens of projects through the pipeline and is essentially responsible for making it the mega-franchise that it is today.
The DC Universe, on the other hand, has never really had the same singular leader guiding the vision of the franchise. The Warner Bros. Discovery merger resulted in many leadership changes behind the scenes, and it was reported that the company was looking for someone, in a Kevin Feige-type role, to help oversee the future of the DC slate.
The studio recently found those people in The Suicide Squad director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, but apparently, Warner Bros may have had someone else in mind as its first choice: the Marvel Studios boss himself.
Warner Bros Approached Kevin Feige To Lead DC
According to a report from Neil Turitz at Above the Line, an outlet led by credible industry insider Jeff Sneider, Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav approached none other than Kevin Feige himself to run the DC Universe earlier this year.
Turitz writes that during Zaslav's search for a DC leader akin to Kevin Feige's role at Marvel, he actually asked the Marvel Studios executive himself if he'd be interested, to which Feige politely declined.
It's been previously reported that Feige did once consider jumping ship from Marvel for DC due to frustrations he was experiencing under past Marvel CEO, Ike Perlmutter, at the time. However, this move never eventuated after Feige received a promotion at Marvel back in 2015.
Kevin Feige Remains Loyal to Marvel
It's easy to see why Feige would be an excellent choice to oversee DC, having built the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the multi-billion-dollar franchise it is today. However, with at least three more phases of Marvel films and TV series coming down the pipe under his guidance, it's equally easy to see why Feige would turn down Zaslav's offer.
With Gunn and Safran at the helm of the DCU now it hopefully signals brighter things for the comic book franchise.
Given Gunn's past roles at both DC and Marvel, many were quick to jump to the conclusion that the director has a rivalry with Kevin Feige. However, Gunn was quick to address these concerns, saying he "loves" Feige and that the Marvel boss was the first person he told about the promotion. Feige also dismissed any conflict between them saying he'll be "the first in line" for any DC projects Gunn oversees.
With Feige happily cemented at Marvel Studios and Gunn and Safran settling into their positions at DC, it seems like the hierarchy in these comic book universes is unlikely to change for some time.
