Kevin Feige Had To Occasionally Stop The Marvels Director Nia DeCosta From Being A Comic Nerd
With the release of every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — due for its 33rd chapter with the release of "The Marvels" — scads of Marvel Comics nerds come out of the woodwork to offer their expertise on the way the movies differ from the comics. The MCU has been generally good about including the broad strokes of a character and their story as they originally appeared on the page, but the finer details are often altered to suit the needs of the movies.
In the movies, for instance, Thanos (Josh Brolin) is a military man concerned with overpopulation and resource allocation, and he feels the only way to solve the problem is to wipe out half the population of the universe. In the comics, Thanos is a more philosophical, nihilistic villain who believes in entropy and is in love with Death (a physical being in Marvel comics). He destroys half the universe's population as a way to impress Her.
Watch an MCU film with a comics nerd, and they will likely give you an earful over the credits about everything MCU producer Kevin Feige altered to suit his needs. Whether or not the alterations are positive is a matter of debate on a case-by-case basis.
"The Marvels" director Nia DaCosta would be one of those nerds. It seems that the 33-year-old DaCosta, born in Brooklyn and raised in Harlem, was a big fan of Kamala Khan, aka. Ms. Marvel, a character that debuted in 2013. One might think this would make her ideally suited to direct "The Marvels," a film to feature the heroine. According to a recent interview with EW, however, it seems that DaCosta's nerd cred needed to occasionally be reigned in by Kevin Feige. It seems it's possible to be too nerdy.
A big nerd from New York City
Yes, DaCosta was familiar with Ms. Marvel going into the project and is likely familiar with the way the character's powers have been changed to fit her live-action iteration. Indeed, DaCosta found a kinship with Kamala Khan in that they both were nerds from nearby neighborhoods. She said:
"I'm a big nerd from New York City, and here was this hero who was a big nerd from Jersey City, writing fan fiction the way I used to when I was that age. [...] It was really fun to feel close to that character in that really specific way, in a way you don't often feel when it's Iron Man or Thor. That was so exciting to me, knowing that I could be a part of bringing this character who I've loved for a decade to the big screen."
Kamala Khan is played by Iman Vellani, reprising her role from the TV series "Ms. Marvel," of which DaCosta directed an episode. Vellani noted that DaCosta's nerdiness wasn't so important on set as her professionalism. The actress said that DaCosta was able to keep morale on set very high, which is a difficult task given the scope and budget of the production. "She has a really calm vibe," Vellani said.
When it came to Kevin Feige, however, DaCosta admits she lost her cool a little bit. Not that she has a temper. She just fell back on her nerd instincts and began thinking of Ms. Marvel in her 2013 iteration and not Ms. Marvel on the screen.
'You're being too much of a nerd.'
If I, personally, were directing "Avengers: Infinity War," my instinct would be to make Thanos more like the comics, even though the MCU rendition was written to be very different. DaCosta felt a similar pull and needed to be reigned in by Feige. When an idea was pitched to her, DaCosta seems to have immediately bristled at the deviation from Marvel Comics. Weirdly enough it was Feige who said she needed to be less a nerd and more a filmmaker. She said:
"The biggest challenge was finding the balance between my point of view as a director and as a comic book nerd [...] Obviously, there are changes between the comics and the movies, and sometimes I'm like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa!' Sometimes Kevin would be like, 'You're being too much of a nerd. Please stop.'"
"The Marvels" is DaCosta's third film as a director. She previously wrote and helmed the 2018 Tessa Thompson drama "Little Woods," and co-wrote and directed the fourth "Candyman" film. She and Vellani met during "Ms. Marvel," while another one of the film's co-leads, Teyonah Parris appeared in "Candyman." DaCosta is also one of the Marvel film's credited screenwriters. It seems she was completely in her element and was at ease with the material. It's no wonder she brought a chill vibe to the set. Parris said of DaCosta:
"Even if you work with her once, you do feel like, 'Oh, we're the best of buds,' [...] I love how smart she is. I love how strong her point of view is. And I love that she has a very fresh take on the material."
"The Marvels" will open on November 10, 2023.