Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige offers updates on some of the biggest projects in the works including a new “Spider-Man” film and the introduction of The Fantastic Four….
With “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” dropping in a few days, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is plenty busy as he continues plotting out additional phases in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Two more Marvel films are coming in 2023 — “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3” and “The Marvels” — but Feige already has an ambitious plan mapped out with the latest series of movies all leading to “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret War,” which mirrors the previous phase of the MCU that concluded with “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
As he continues promoting the new “Ant-Man” film, which officially introduces Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conquerer — the new Thanos level big bad who will be haunting the MCU for the next few years — Feige offered updates on some of the biggest projects in the works at Marvel including Tom Holland returning for another “Spider-Man” film.
Let’s detail the biggest revelations from Feige in a far reaching interview with EW:
Spider-Man 4
We’ll start with possibly the most exciting news — Marvel is officially working on a fourth “Spider-Man” film with Tom Holland returning to play the webslinger again. The previous film “Spider-Man: No Way Home” largely reset Spider-Man’s place in the MCU after Doctor Strange unleashed a spell that effectively erased the hero’s true identity from anybody who actually knew he was really Peter Parker.
Sadly for Peter that meant he also lost his best friend Ned and the love of his life in M.J.
So how does Spider-Man move forward in a new film? Feige says that’s currently being developed as writers begin tackling the next “Spider-Man” sequel.
“All I will say is that we have the story,” Feige teased. “We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just putting pen to paper now.”
Kang the Conquerer
Backtracking to the new film out in theaters on Feb. 17, Feige was excited for audiences to finally meet Kang the Conquerer for the first time after the character received huge ovations from test screenings leading up to “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” actually being released.
Savvy fans recognize that Majors first appeared as a version of Kang in the “Loki” series but perhaps the most frightening part about this new character — there are multiple versions spread across the multiverse. So the Kang the Conquerer we’re about to meet in the new “Ant-Man” film is not the same one who appeared in “Loki.”
“For years, we’ve always had the inkling that Kang would be an amazing follow-up to Thanos,” Feige said. “He’s got that equal stature in the comics, but he’s a completely different villain. Mainly, that’s because he’s multiple villains. He’s so unique from Thanos, which we really liked.
“And in the early days of Quantumania [test audiences], Jonathan started to pop in a big way. He’s the highest-testing villain we’ve ever had in any of our friends and families [screenings]. That’s really saying something with a movie like this. Even early on without the effects, Jonathan is his own effect. He was working from the start. It’s always one of the fun rolls of the dice that we do at Marvel, which is to say: “Hey, we’re going to make multiple movies around this character, and we’re going to start before the audience has even had a chance to meet him.” We really go all in on these ideas and this casting. It was a big relief when the season ender of Loki season 1 happened. People really seem to be on board for Kang. People are chanting, “Kang!” when Jonathan goes on talk shows, and they haven’t even seen him in the movie yet!”
Mutants Are Coming
Perhaps one of the biggest questions surrounding the upcoming phases of the MCU is when will the X-Men and mutants officially be introduced?
All of the characters from the X-Men comics now belong to Marvel Studios after Disney secured a huge purchase of the majority of assets from FOX. Thus far, we have seen Patrick Stewart return for a brief appearance as Charles Xavier in a multiverse version of the character in “Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness” and Namor the Submariner was the featured antagonist in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” but the actual X-Men are nowhere to be found just yet.
Feige wasn’t ready to give up any major info on the introduction of the X-Men, although he definitely understands the anticipation building towards the eventual inclusion of those characters and mutants into the MCU.
“You know, I think we’ve said the word [mutant] once,” Feige said. “Kamala [Khan] talks about a genetic mutation [in ‘Ms. Marvel], and Namor refers to himself as a mutant amongst his own people. And mutant is a real genetic term, not just a comic book term.
“But part of the fun is that I’ve been at this company for half my life, and we’re just now tapping into arguably one of the biggest aspects of the publishing history. It’s pretty remarkable, and it’s a testament to the house of ideas and what Marvel publishing has done these 80 years. The question is how to do it and when to do it, and that’s something we’ve been working on for years. Now we know. But we’re not going to talk about it.”
A quick reminder — Feige got his start working on the original “X-Men” movie back in 2000 so it’s safe to say these characters are near and dear to his heart.
Deadpool 3
The first official MCU film that will feature mutants will be the upcoming “Deadpool 3,” which will also feature the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
It will also be the first rating ‘R’ movie produced by Marvel Studios and Feige sounds very excited to see Jackman and Ryan Reynolds tear up the screen together in the new film.
“We’ve got Hugh Jackman coming back for our first Deadpool film within the MCU,” Feige said. “That’s our first R-rated film. To have Hugh come back is incredible. For me, personally, that is where I started. I remember sitting behind the camera — well behind the camera — at his audition for the film. It was his first on-set audition, and he flew up to Toronto to do a read with Anna Paquin.
“For him, and for me, and I think for all of the fans of Marvel, it’s unbelievable what has happened in those 23 years. It’s very full-circle having him come back in this new Deadpool film.”
President Harrison Ford
In 2024, Anthony Mackie will take center stage in “Captain America: New World Order” as he officially takes up the mantle as the Star-Spangled hero following the events in “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.”
The film will also introduce Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross — a role previously played by the late William Hurt. It turns out Ford won’t just be playing any version of Thaddeus Ross but instead he’ll be leading the United States as President.
“We start filming relatively soon,” Feige said about the film. “I’m sure anyone you’ve ever talked with about Harrison Ford says this, but it’s unbelievable that we get to meet and talk with him and that he’s embracing this role. He’s tireless with the amount of work that he does. This is certainly a big part for Thaddeus Ross. He’s the president of the United States in the film. And with Harrison, you think about Air Force One, and you think about some of his confrontations with the president in Clear and Present Danger. There’s a dynamic between President Ross and Sam Wilson. They have a history together, but in this film, we’ll be seeing the dynamic between Captain America and the president of the United States in a way that is just incredible.
“This has been a dream for years, ever since Jon Favreau cast Harrison Ford in Cowboys and Aliens. I was always very jealous of that, so to have him finally in the MCU is just incredible. It’s like, I can cross that off the wishlist.”
Thunderbolts
Another ambitious project coming soon from Marvel Studios will be the introduction of the “Thunderbolts” — a team of almost heroes and sometimes villains who come together as a team under the direction of Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) with several past characters returning as well.
Sebastian Stan will lead the group as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier with Florence Pugh returning as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker aka U.S. Agent, Hannah John Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as The Taskmaster.
“We’ve got a lot of things that start shooting relatively soon,” Feige said about ‘Thunderbolts.’ “What’s fun about that, and I sort of said this at D23, is that they are barely heroes. None of them would consider themselves heroes. When your de facto leader is Bucky Barnes, that’s sort of all you need to know. That’s the trickle down.
“But again, it goes to the amazing work that [casting director] Sarah Finn has done across the whole MCU. You’ve got David Harbour and Florence Pugh and these people who are at the top of their game and popping in everything they’re doing. They’re already here and established in the MCU, and we get to build the movie around them.”
Blade
Another highly anticipated addition to the MCU will be Oscar winner Mahershala Ali finally portraying the half-human, half-vampire “Blade” — a role previously played by Wesley Snipes. That film is also expected to see Kit Harington return as Dane Whitman aka The Black Knight.
While details about the film reman secret, Feige says that production on the film will be starting very soon.
“It’s going well,” Feige said. “Our director Yann [Demange] is down in Atlanta right now. Cameras roll in, like, the next 10 weeks or so.”
The Fantastic Four
One film in particular that Feige sounded very excited about was “The Fantastic Four” movie that will be directed by Matt Shakman, who previously worked on the critically acclaimed series “WandaVision.”
Feige wasn’t ready to give up any news on casting just yet but he promised that “The Fantastic Four” will play a crucial role in the future of the MCU, which is one of the reasons he can’t wait for fans to finally meet the team.
“Well, we talked a little bit about Secret Wars. We talked about Kang Dynasty as related to Quantumania. The only other one in terms of me personally and my 23-year history is the Fantastic Four,” Feige said. “We sort of talked about mutants and that whole aspect to the Marvel world, but Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics.
“There’s certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that’s something that is really exciting for us. People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.”
Marvel TV
Feige also offered a brief update on the future of Marvel Studios on television, particularly after rolling out a ton of new shows on Disney+ over the past couple of years.
According to Feige, the sheer volume of series will slow down as the studio begins picking and choosing projects more specifically suited for television while still taking a chance to experiment on storytelling like what was done with shows such as “Ms. Marvel” or “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” which was effectively a half-hour action sitcom.
While Feige admitted that fans have really embraced the connected storytelling between the shows and the films, he also likes the idea of making more standalone episodes that don’t necessarily involve cliffhangers or teases for future shows.
“We want to do shows that can only be shows,” Feige said. “I want to continue to make them even more episodic, which may seem counterintuitive. But I do think there is something fun about leaning back and watching an episode that can be relatively self-contained.
“Lost was an incredibly influential show because it was this serialized story, which was not seen in television much. Now it’s been how long, 20 years? Since then, almost everything has become like that. So now — and I think you’re seeing this not just with our shows, but with many other shows — you’re starting to see the fun of a self-contained, episodic story week to week. We’re going to experiment with that in some of our upcoming things.”
A huge part of the future of Marvel Studios on television will be the upcoming “Daredevil: Born Again” series that reunites Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio with the characters they played for several seasons on the “Daredevil” show on Netflix.
“It’s Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, and they’re amazing actors and storytellers in their own right,” Feige said. “That’s sort of what I was talking about with the fun of episodic television: That’s really where we’re experimenting with that, with Daredevil in particular.”
There’s obviously going to be plenty more coming from Marvel Studios over the next few years but for now get ready for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” to land in theaters on Friday.
