‘Loki’ Producer Details Journey From the Marines to Marvel

Loki executive producer Kevin R. Wright recently sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he detailed his unexpected journey from the Marines to the MCU.

Growing up in Philadelphia, Wright deferred his dream of going to film school in order to join the Marine Corps. He never anticipated at the time how valuable his service would be. “I went to boot camp in June 2001 and graduated Sept. 15, 2001, and a big thing happened in between there.”

Wright ultimately spent four years with the Marines serving as a “combat correspondent,” meaning he was the de facto photographer, videographer, and documentarian on the battlefield. Only once he left the Marines did he begin to pursue his career in film.

“[I] got out and went to art school in Philadelphia, University of the Arts. It’s one of the oldest fine arts universities in the country, and as soon as I graduated [in 2012], I moved to L.A.”

The producer admitted to being tired of the slow crawl to the top that’s par for the course in Los Angeles. He was about to pack it up before a fateful phone call changed his plans. 

“I got a call from an agent who said, ‘Hey, I got a meeting for you at Marvel, if you’d be interested in taking it. Can’t tell you what it is, but it’s exciting.’ It ended up as a job, and that was a little over eight years ago. I’ve been here ever since.”

Wright began working as a production and development manager on 2016’s Doctor Strange, before quickly moving up the ladder. He was an associate producer on Ant-Man and the Wasp before moving into a co-executive producer position for Loki’s first season. Ahead of season two, he was promoted to full-on executive producer.

Though Disney CEO Bob Iger has promised to roll back Disney+’s Marvel output, Wright is confident the edict won’t affect Loki. “Loki season two came in under budget and on time… We had zero additional photography, and we’re probably the first project ever at Marvel to do that,” Wright revealed. “I would certainly love to keep telling stories in this little corner of the universe we’ve made.”

Read Wright’s full Hollywood Reporter interview here.