The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the biggest film franchise known to man - it usurped Star Wars, Star Trek,  Harry Potter, James Bond, and the rest in the lat- 2010s with the one-two punch that was Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but that doesn't mean it doesn't owe something to the past. And specifically for the Star Trek superfan that is Kevin Feige, it owes something to Star Trek - and perhaps the least-loved Star Trek movie ever, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

In this week's Marvel-ous, we are digging into how a small scene in a nearly-forgotten Star Trek film created the blueprint that Feige & co. have been using to create the Marvel Studios magic since 2008.

In 1989's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the three main leads of the series - Kirk, Spock, and McCoy - go camping in Yellowstone Park in a completely human, non-special-effects-laden scene. According to Doctor Strange writer C. Robert Cargill in a quote in MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige told him personally that every Marvel Studios movies needed that kind of "campfire scene" ... and also dropped a hot take Star Trek fans might recoil at, until they understand it.

"Kevin made an assertion to me that melted my brain because I'd never heard it," said Cargill. "He made the argument that Star Trek V is better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture. You cannot find a great character moment in The Motion Picture that comes close to matching anything with the campfire scene, and the campfire scene gives us our three favorite characters from the show together, outside of the norm, and lets us experience who they are as people and not legends."

This is just one of numerous Star Trek influences to be found in the MCU - but lets sit in the pocket of this story, and why it's so pivotal.

Cargill goes on to say that "[T]he DNA of that campfire scene [is] in every Marvel movie. He wants to take your favorite characters and give you the campfire scene, and give you that sequence in which you just love these people for who they are as people, regardless of their powers, so that when the big stuff happens, you really care about it."

I think we're all thinking of the shawarma scene from 2012's Avengers right now, but it's more than that - think of the WandaVision scene with the seminal quote 'What is grief, if not love persevering?'. Feel free to tell us the 'campfire scene' from other Marvel movies and TV shows in the comments. 

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