An Interview with Screenwriter Rob Edwards

You may not know the name Rob Edwards, but in Hollywood, the Detroit native is a legitimate A-lister … according to the script. Perhaps best known as a screenwriter for the Oscar-nominated Disney animated features Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog, he entered the Marvel universe this year as first writer on the current blockbuster Captain America: Brave New World. He’s written for such TV series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, and In Living Color; recently completed writing the historical graphic novel Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls; will write, direct, and produce the animated film version of Brown Sugar Fairies: Saroja’s Quest; and is set to write and direct the original feature Sneaks later in 2025. In his spare time, he serves as an adjunct professor of screenwriting at the University of Southern California.

So what’s it like behind the curtain at Marvel? Is it different from other studios you’ve worked with?

I don’t believe there’s anybody else who has written a Disney animated feature and a Marvel movie, any human being who has been in both rooms. And if there were, they would see they’re almost identical. You sit in a room with the smartest people you’ve ever seen, but you’re essentially pitching one person, playing to an audience of one. To the point where [Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige once asked me, “Hey, how does [former Disney/ Pixar Chief Creative Officer] John Lasseter run the room?” I would love to introduce those guys. I want to be at that dinner.

How did Captain America 4 come about?

I was left at the altar. I worked with Nate Moore [former Marvel vice president of production and development] for like three months coming up with the perfect pitch [for Black Panther], but they went with [writer-director] Ryan Coogler, the visionary. He had directing experience; I didn’t. But they said, “If you don’t mind, we’re going to use a lot of your ideas.”

Then they called again. “Sorry about Black Panther. We want you to do Thor: Ragnarok.” I flew back to LA in the middle of my vacation to take the meeting, but [director] Taika Waititi decides he wants to write most of it himself. Two wedding dresses just hanging in the closet!

So Brave New World was almost like an apology gift?

I said, “OK, when am I pitching?” And they said, “No, this is yours. We’re giving it to you.” And the final credits say “Screenplay by Rob Edwards and others, Story by Rob Edwards and others.” So I’m first position on both for the most anticipated movie of 2025.

I’m sure by now most readers want to know, How does a young brother from the west side of Detroit wind up in Hollywood writing Marvel movies?

My dad was a doctor, and he told me very early on the plan was to graduate from Cranbrook, go to Howard [University], study medicine, and take over his practice. I said, “But Dad … I want to tell jokes!” Over his dead body! But he finally said, “Go to whatever college you want; then after you graduate, you have nine months to make a living at this craziness. If you ever call and ask me for a dollar, I’m sending you a plane ticket … to Howard.”

I started writing fan letters to people in Hollywood and applying for jobs my freshman year at Syracuse [University]! Then, weirdly enough, between my junior and senior year, my dad sends me a note about a movie they were filming in Detroit, Tiger Town. I volunteered to work on that.

And you moved to LA immediately upon graduating from college.

I called every single production going on in Hollywood. Nothing. Then I got this idea. I’d call them, and before they hung up on me, I’d ask, “Do you want to hear a joke or a piece of gossip?” I’d give them the one they asked for, then I’d hang up on them! I did this every day until they’d finally say, “Wait! Who the hell are you?” That’s how I got my first PA [production assistant] gig. Detroit hustle.”

That was a brave new world. So other than the wildfires, life in LA seems pretty good for Rob Edwards these days.

I had a student at USC say to me, “Why is it every story you tell sounds like a flex?” I’m not flexing! This is just my life. I do fun things. I like to create stuff, and I’m a super, super nerd. But I’ll always be “Robbie E. from the D!”

This story originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on March 10.