Throughout the MCU's juggernaut history, not only have characters like Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Star-Lord, and Wanda Maximoff become household names but, surprisingly, also has the President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige. Far from a traditional studio head, Feige is largely responsible for crafting the interconnected storyline of the MCU, which includes Marvel's latest Disney+ series, Hawkeye.
In fact, Hawkeye is a first for Feige as, along with being listed as the series' Executive Producer, the show's credits now conclude with "Marvel Studios Presents a Kevin Feige Production."
The accolade is fitting for the studio president who, along with being a Marvel fan himself, has managed that rare balance of taking risks and granting creative freedom while also being a key player in the MCU's seemingly endless string of projects.
As audiences eagerly await the final two episodes of Hawkeye, fans are now learning how one of Feige's suggestions led to one of the best action-packed sequences of the show so far from the series' own directorial team.
Marvel's Kevin Feige Suggested Hawkeye's "Daylight" Car Chase
In talking with Entertainment Weekly, Hawkeye directors Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Kate Ellwood (aka Bert and Bertie) admitted that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is largely responsible for the look of Episode 3's showstopping car chase scene.
While audiences saw a one-take car chase involving the Tracksuit Mafia and Maya Lopez in pursuit of Clint and Kate in broad daylight, followed by a display of trick arrows and a dash through a Christmas tree lot, all of that wasn't exactly what Bert and Bertie originally planned.
According to Ellwood, Kevin Feige expressed that too much of Hawkeye took place after dark and that "we need to put some sequences in the day":
"It was only after we'd started shooting the show that Kevin was like, 'there's too much at night. We need to put some sequences in the day.' But we'd planned it all at night! And of course we had been like hey, you can hide things in the shadows. But then suddenly it was daylight."
Ellwood continued saying they and the team not only decided "to embrace it," but to "do even more practically":
"So we just reconvened with our amazing team and decided to embrace it. We'd already decided to do as much practically as possible, but it drove us to do even more practically. The result was amazing."
While the completed scene was technically impressive, the daylight aspect added to the reality as well, as Templemore-Finlayson explained by saying "it has a grit and it has a danger from being in the daytime when you can see more."
This isn't the first time Kevin Feige's suggestions have helped to improve a sequence for a Marvel Disney+ series. Loki director Kate Herron said that the idea to include past MCU quotes over Loki's Episode 6's opening scene was actually Feige's.
In fact, much like Bert and Bertie, Herron only built upon Feige's idea, saying that they "decided to just put the MCU quotes across the whole thing."
Marvel Studios' Own "He Who Remains"
In 2021 alone, Marvel Studios entered the world of series storytelling with five unique shows in addition to four theatrical films. While fans naturally enjoyed the sheer wealth of content, what's remarkable is Marvel's ability to maintain their standard of quality with so many projects while also trying new things.
However, this ability isn't just part of Marvel's reputation, but also Feige's - and now that the MCU has found success in expanding into new mediums like Disney+, it's likely that he's just getting started and will continue to be a recognizable name.
In addition to helming a future Star Wars project, it's also expected that the upcoming Marvel Disney+ show She-Hulk will directly reference Kevin Feige during an instance where Tatiana Maslany's Jennifer Walters breaks the fourth wall.
In the meantime, Feige is likely already deep into planning the next phase of the MCU and serving as the voice of the audience for Marvel's various creators. And due to the studio's record of success, as well as awesome sequences like Hawkeye's car chase, there's nowhere else fans would want him to be.
New episodes of Hawkeye drop on Wednesdays on Disney+.
