Thank you very much. Whose idea was it for me to go on after Jim Carrey?
I'm pretty sure the show ended. John [Favreau,] thank you. I'm gonna read - Cate made it look so
cool to read off of cards so that's what I'm, that's what I'm gonna do. That was
amazing thank you thank you so much and thank you to BAFTA. I'm very humbled to
be recognized for this award that bears the name of a man, Albert Broccoli who
has had such an incredible impact on film and on me personally.
While I'm extremely proud of what we've done the last 10 years with John and all
of us at Marvel Studios, the gold standard is what he and Eon Productions
have done with James Bond. A character who is as popular today as he was nearly 60
years ago when Dr. No first came out. That's incredible and we've got a half
century more to see if we're anywhere near capable of filling those shoes
but it is an honor. It's an honor to be among such a supremely talented company
tonight not only the other honorees but everybody in this very impressive room.
It will come as no surprise that I'm a lifelong movie fan. I think most of us
are. As a kid growing up in New Jersey [cheer] I was aware of the power - Jersey! [big cheer] - I was
aware of the power of storytelling and actively sought out stories that moved
me in all forms in books, in TV and comic books and of course movies and it was
amazing that I could dive into a world that was nothing like mine and I could
relate to it and I could learn from it I could be entertained by it and I could
aspire to it and for me movies were the ultimate expression of
emotional captivating storytelling. Seeing stories living and breathing on
the big screen was very powerful when I was a kid and it still is today. A big
giant screen in a room full of people. It was it was only later that I realized
the real power of movies is to connect people all over the world across
generations, gender, cultures, languages - movies connect people. I've witnessed
that in the movies we've made at Marvel Studios and in all of your movies as
well. Regardless of what is happening in the world, when I see the power of a
movie to create those connections among people who've never met and will
probably never meet whether it's a Bond movie or Beauty and the Beast movie or
Blade Runner or Black Panther it keeps me excited it keeps me hungry
to keep pushing forward especially when I look around at the people I've been
lucky enough to work with. Movies bring people together in the theater but they
also bring people together behind the scenes and in Marvel Studios we've been
putting a scene after the end credits in all of our films since the very
beginning. The fans love it, it's a tease of something to come but the real bonus
is that the audience is going to sit there and look at all the names of the
hundreds and thousands of people who worked so hard to bring these movies to
life. That that really inspired me as a kid to see all those names and and I
hope it inspires people today. I will tell you a quick story. In 2008, right
down the street at the ArcLight, it was the opening night that midnight
show of Iron Man 1 and John and I and Robert Downey Jr. sort of surprised the
audience with introducing it and in that feeder that night was a young film
student named Ryan Coogler and 10 years later he gave us Black Panther which is
astounding. It's a film, Black Panther's a film that
we knew is so important in terms of representation but that far surpassed
any bar we could have set not only from a storytelling perspective but from its
cultural resonance and what it's meant to people all around the world. That is
the power of entertainment. That's the power of movies. That's the power of
entertaining movies. Ryan. We don't do it alone we stand on the shoulders of those
who've come before us people like Albert Broccoli and we lean on the people
around us to make something that creates that spark of connection. I've been very
privileged to work with a remarkable team at Marvel Studios, particularly my
partners Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, as well as the entire Marvel brain trust
who we forced to join us tonight and they rented tuxes and ball gowns so
thank you. Internally our brain trust is referred to as Parliament that's what we
call ourselves is Parliament it seems apropos for tonight's British event.
There are a couple of reasons that we call ourselves Parliament but the main
reason is because mainly we stand around shouting at each other always in the
service of the best idea. None of what we've accomplished would have been
possible without the amazing leadership at Disney. Bob Iger, Alan Horn,
Alan Bergman the rest of the entire team at the Walt Disney Company - we never would
have made it out of phase one and much past Avengers if it wasn't for their
support and guidance - so thank you for that. Throughout this journey, we've been
surrounded by so many fantastic mentors and partners including the extraordinary
writers, directors, actors, designers, technicians and artists who pour their
passion and their talent into this work day in and day out, so heartfelt thank
you to each and every one of them. And of course I can't leave out my wife Caitlin
and my kids for their endless support and understanding. Unfortunately I have
no end credits scene for you tonight but I want to thank you for for sitting here
and listening to my end credits. You all deserve a round of applause. Thank you
for this honor, thank you so very very much. Thank you, thank you all.