director of the millennium

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time.

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is still only in the PPT stage. It is just a fourth-phase movie planned by Marvel, and it is the story after "Avengers 4: Endgame". It will not be prepared for filming until at least 2019.

The reason why he invited Wu Yuan so early was just to finalize the cooperation matters first. After all, Wu Yuan was a big director and his schedule was not so easy to arrange, so it had to be confirmed two or three years in advance.

As for Marvel's current opinion on the film, even the script has not yet been started. At least Kevin Feige doesn't have any ideas. He only confirmed that the film's leading man must be an Asian, and Shang-Chi's story must be greatly changed.

As a clear-headed businessman, he certainly knows that in the current international environment, things like "insulting China" must not be done, and the once notorious villain "Mandarin" in Marvel must never be brought up again.

When filming "Iron Man 2008" in 1, they didn't think about creating a superhero universe, so they casually used the "Mandarin" baggage. But now even if Kevin Feige has ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to really use "Mandarin" in the film.

Are you kidding me? The era in which this character was born is too sensitive. He must be put into deep freeze!
So he actually quite agrees with Wu Yuan's idea, which is to make a movie that respects and pays tribute to China, to please the Chinese audience, and to take the influence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in China to a higher level.

He would never, and would never want to, include anything racist in such an important movie.

However, this does not mean that Kevin Feige intends to obey Wu Yuan in everything.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been developing for almost ten years now, and has produced nearly 20 films.

The influence of Marvel movies is second to none among the top IPs in the world.

Marvel Studios is no longer the small company that was on the verge of bankruptcy and even went bankrupt and was acquired.

Even though Wu Yuan is currently one of the top directors in Hollywood, it does not mean that he can disrupt Marvel's filming plans at will.

Yes, in Kevin Feige's view, Wu Yuan's request was disrupting Marvel's filming plan.

Marvel's movies are not independent of each other. Each movie is a part of the entire movie universe. Therefore, Marvel's directors basically cannot have much say in the movies themselves, and need producers such as Kevin Feige to direct from the macro perspective of the entire movie universe.

All the directors of Marvel's individual films need to do is to make the films according to the script.

As for the choice of actors and the direction of the script's story, these have nothing to do with the director, and the director cannot be allowed to make decisions.

Because the director only needs to be responsible for one or two movies, while Kevin Feige is responsible for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

If a director is allowed too much freedom with a single superhero movie, it is possible that the entire Marvel Universe will experience a chain reaction because of the "out-of-character" nature of this one movie. Moreover, it is unknown whether this chain reaction will be good or bad, and it is possible that the entire movie universe will be at great risk.

Today's Marvel Studios is no longer the Marvel that was barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. Kevin Feige's attitude towards the movie universe is to be safe, and safety overrides everything.

Important movies in the fourth phase like "Shang-Chi" are important node films that will restart the new generation of superheroes after "Avengers 4". Kevin Feige must personally oversee it. From the creation of the script to the selection of actors, he has to decide according to the entire fourth phase plan.

Let Wu Yuan make the decision and choose the actors and write the script according to his wishes?
Perhaps the former is still worth discussing. After all, the choice of actors does not really have much impact on the subsequent development of the movie universe.

But the latter is absolutely non-negotiable. Even Wu Yuan cannot interfere with the plot writing and subsequent development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Including the editing rights of the film, Wu Yuan cannot be given, Marvel Studios must edit it themselves!
After all, Marvel movies already have their own editing style and routines, and the most taboo thing is actually adding any personal characteristics.

Yes, what Marvel's movies are now actually pursuing is to reduce the director's presence and personal characteristics. Kevin Feige requires that Marvel's movies can change directors at any time without affecting the development of the movie universe.

In Kevin Feige's view, the core of Marvel movies must be several screenwriters. As for the director, he just needs to be a tool. There is no need for the director to reflect too many "personal will" decisions in the movie.

The reason why he approached Wu Yuan was to take advantage of Wu Yuan's popularity and influence, which has been proven to be very useful in "Doctor Strange". But he did not want Wu Yuan's personal style, directing characteristics, etc. to be integrated into the movie universe.

Wu Yuan did a very good job in this regard in "Doctor Strange". Apart from asking Ancient One to respect the original work and replace the actor with a Chinese male actor, he did not have any other requirements for the script. He filmed the film completely according to the script given by Marvel and did not participate in any post-production editing work. He was a qualified tool man.

It was because Kevin Feige was so satisfied with this collaboration that he wanted to work with Wu Yuan again.

There are very few Hollywood directors who are popular and influential and can honestly serve as tools, or maybe there is only one.

This is also the reason why Marvel has never been able to work with real Hollywood top directors.

Which top Hollywood director doesn’t have a lot of requirements and is crazy about showing off his personal style in the movie?
The Wu Yuan before was not like this. He was honest and easy to use, with the attitude of a lazy worker who would do anything as long as you paid him enough.

Why are there suddenly so many more requirements when inviting him to direct "Shang-Chi"?

After a period of silence, Kevin Feige finally came up with what he thought was his bottom line: "Daniel, I can give you enough autonomy in choosing the actors, so that you can choose the actors you like, but Marvel Studios must be responsible for the writing of the script and the editing of the film."

"You know, Marvel's movies are never independent. There are very complex connections between each movie. This must be handled by the company's screenwriters. Outsiders cannot interfere at will, which will disrupt the subsequent planning of the entire movie universe."

"As for editing, our Marvel movies all have their own editing concepts and styles, and some interlocking foreshadowing also needs to be added during editing. It's not a good thing to rashly take over the editing work."

"So this is the bottom line?" Wu Yuan interrupted directly.

"Yes." Kevin Feige said firmly: "I can only give the actor the right to choose."

"That's a pity." Wu Yuan sighed with pretended regret: "I can only reject this invitation for cooperation. I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future."

"Like Doctor Strange 2?"

"Oh, it seems that there are some problems with this movie too."

Kevin Feige didn't understand Wu Yuan's last words, nor did he intend to explain. He simply said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Hearing the sound of the call ending on the phone, Kevin Feige's eyes flickered and he calmly put away the phone.

It's just a director. Kevin Feige, who is currently at the peak of his career, never thinks that Marvel cannot move forward without a director. He even sneered, thinking that Wu Yuan was a little ungrateful.

In Kevin Feige's mind, Wu Yuan's rejection of his invitation this time means that Marvel will also close the door to Wu Yuan.

Is there any chance to cooperate again?
There won't be another chance.

Kevin Feige dialed the internal telephone line in his office, "Daisy, let the production department look for a new director for Shang-Chi."

"By the way, let's start looking for a new director for Doctor Strange 2. Our cooperation with Daniel Wu has ended, and the company needs another excellent director!"

Marvel Studios, which is at the peak of its glory, has finally returned to its original trajectory. After the upcoming glory, it will embark on a steep downhill road that Kevin Feige did not expect.

Start from the fourth stage. (End of this chapter)