The MCUhas always taken its fair share of liberties when adapting the stories from Marvel Comics, something fans are not always happy with. However, according toMarvel Studiosproducer Nate Moore, it’s in the studio’s best interests that writers are not married to the source material.
Moore is a well-known name atMarvel Studios. The producer has credits on several films, mostly those tied toCaptain AmericaandBlack Panther, withBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverand 2024’sCaptain America: New World Orderbeing his latest projects. In that regard, the producer recently described being part of the Marvel fandom as something that could easily be a red flag when the studio is looking for new directors and writers to spearhead its projects.
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During an interview withThe Town with Matt Bellonipodcast (viaThe Direct), Moore said there aren’t any special requirements that have to be filled, nor a Marvel crash course that has to be completed for newcomers. “I don’t want you to already have a pre-existing idea of what it is, because you grew up with Issue 15 and that’s what you want to recreate […] I want somebody who’s hard on the material, who goes, ‘What is this? I think there’s a movie here, but maybe we should be looking at it in this way,’'' Moore explained. Although Moore admitsdirectors like Ryan Cooglerand Anthony and Joe Russo were comic book aficionados, he offered examples of the opposite, like Taika Waititi turning Thor into a goofball, andCaptain Americawriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Mainly, Moore believes it’s important for anyone working for Marvel Studios to appreciate the source material and acknowledge changes that need to be made. “I think that’s important to be able to go, ‘Look, the source material is great, and I love it, and comics work in the medium they were built in, but that’s not a direct, one-to-one translation to the best version of the movie,'” he said. The producer outlines the real qualities the MCU wants: that directors have “shown excellence” during their careers and that they share the same passion for the movie the studio wants to make.
One of the most glaring examples of these changes from comic book to movie was a film Moore worked on,Captain America: Civil War, which is supposed to be a massive story in print but ended up being shrunk into a single movie that did incredibly well at the box office and in terms of fan appreciation. Not all interpretations are met with the same praise, as the MCU’s takes on the Mandarin, one of Iron Man’s most fearsome villains, is still regarded as a very inferior version of the character.
Sometimes, in cases like Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan’s entire set of powers and origins had to be changed to make her fit the MCU storyline. On the other hand,She-Hulkembraced certain aspects of the comicsyet mixed them with a specific brand of humor from the writers. Currently, fans will be eager to see what the MCU does withThe Kang DynastyandSecret Wars, two of Marvel’s most ambitious stories.
