One of the first big blockbusters of 2023 is set to be released this Friday, and that is, of course, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ahead of the release, Marvel Studio’s president and chief creative officer, Kevin Feige, sat down for an interview with EW to promote the film — which also happens to be the first movie of Phase Five of the MCU.
Of course, Phase Four was also (as was pointed out in the interview) a “transitional one,” as it not only saw stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans leave the franchise, but it also marked the beginning of the MCU moving into TV series on Disney+ that directly tie into future and current storyline — as well as introducing new characters (like Jonathan Majors as a variant of Kang the Conqueror in Loki).
And while talking about the move to TV, Kevin said he “was very pleased with everything that we did.” In particular, he pointed at being very proud of the Ms. Marvel TV series and how the character of Kamala Khan steals the upcoming The Marvels movie. “It makes me excited that people will, I hope, see that movie and then go back and revisit those shows on Disney+,” he said.
But when asked if he has seen the SNL skit “The Big Hollywood Quiz” in which they make fun of there being so many TV shows, Kevin responded that he had, adding, “I do think one of the powerful aspects of being at Marvel Studios is having these films and shows hit the zeitgeist. It is harder to hit the zeitgeist when there’s so much product out there — and so much ‘content,’ as they say, which is a word that I hate.”
Kevin admitted that if Marvel Studios really wants their shows to stand out, they need to space them out more “so they can each get a chance to shine,” and we’ll start to see that shift as we get further into Phase Five and into Phase Six.
When asked if that meant just spacing them out more or putting out fewer shows a year, he responded, “Both, I think.”
So there you have it, MCU fans, we’re getting fewer TV shows in the future. On the one hand, it makes me sad to know we’ll be getting fewer shows and having them air further apart. But on the other hand, there really is soooo much TV right now that I can use one fewer thing to have to watch because it is appointment TV!
You can read the rest of the interview with Kevin Feige over at EW.