Chris Gary
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTelevision producer
Years active1998–present
Notable work

Chris Gary is an American television producer. He served as an executive producer on the documentary series Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (2019) and Blackballed (2020), a producer on the documentary special Marvel's Behind the Mask (2021), and as a co-executive producer on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television miniseries Secret Invasion (2023). He worked as a producer at Marvel Studios's Production and Development group, at least from 2022 through 2023.

History

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In January 2021, Gary was revealed as a producer of the Disney+ documentary special Marvel's Behind the Mask for Tarmac Creative and Strike Anywhere,[1] again working with producer Ryan Simon, director Michael Jacobs.[1] The special explored "the power of identity" behind several popular Marvel Comics characters and featured writers and artists from across Marvel's 80-year history who were behind the creation of these characters, and focused on their impact on popular culture and media.[1] Gary, Jacobs, and Simon worked together on the Quibi docuseries Blackballed;[2][3][4] Gary subsequently joined Marvel Studios's Production and Development group as a producer.[4][5][6]: 1:04:51 

Behind the Mask was originally conceived to showcase the history of the character T'Challa / Black Panther, in anticipation of the release of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Panther (2018), although, Jacobs, Gary, and Simon realized during their research that Marvel's efforts "to break ground" with the representation of race, gender, and sexual orientation were more complicated and rich than one character. The documentary's filmmakers said Marvel executives were supportive with a "warts-and-all look" at the company's representation efforts, especially after their "less than admirable history" of depictions of race with skin tone coloring and sexual orientation, which Gary said Marvel had accepted would be uncomfortable. Marvel were "complete partners" in this process and gave the filmmakers access to their full range of history for it. While none of the filmmakers considered themselves to be die-hard comic book fans, they became appreciative of the creators after looking through Marvel's history of the characters. Jacobs said that while much of Marvel's popular culture is surrounded by their films, Behind the Mask would be a "nice reminder" of the people who created their ideas, while noting that they had "fall[en] into stereotypes" and made mistakes, and called the comics and characters "uniquely special". Gary, who is Black, felt the use of certain colors for skin tones, such as depicting Asian characters as yellow and Black characters as grey, was shocking, and he said he did not "know how I would explain that to my kids", who have Black and Asian heritage, and said that was a "conversation you don't really want to have, but it's a necessary conversation".[7]

Filmography

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He also served as an HBO executive where he oversaw Game of Thrones, The Young Pope (2016), and True Detective. He began his career in finance.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "'Marvel's Behind the Mask' Documentary Coming to Disney+". Marvel.com. January 19, 2021. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  2. ^ Worfolk, Clayton. "Marvel's Behind the Mask – clayton worfolk | editor". Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Worfolk, Clayton. "Blackballed – clayton worfolk | editor". Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Venable, Nick (March 17, 2022). "A Daredevil Reboot Is Moving Forward With Disney, But We Have Questions". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  5. ^ Kit, Borys (October 11, 2023). "'Daredevil' Hits Reset Button as Marvel Overhauls Its TV Business". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Shoucri, Amir; Hillhouse, Jason (May 25, 2022). "The Making of Moon Knight". Marvel Studios: Assembled. Season 1. Episode 9. Disney+. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  7. ^ Vary, Adam B. (February 11, 2021). "How Marvel's Black Panther Had a 'Perfect' Comic Book Launch — Except for One Major Flaw (Exclusive Video)". Variety. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
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