Update: April 18, 2017
Kevin Feige Talks About Josh Brolin Playing Cable, Joss Whedon's BATGIRL and More
In a rare move, and with
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's opening just a few weeks out, Marvel Studios opened the doors of its headquarters, located on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, Calif., offering a peek inside its movie making process.
Designs of characters and worlds were glimpsed (Thanos!), dailies were shown (
Black Panther!), directors such as
Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi and
Ant-Man’s Peyton Reed shared thoughts on their process.
And Marvel head Kevin Feige sat for a small group to talk on a wide-range of topics, while also confirming the studio will return to San Diego Comic-Con this year. Here’s what
Heat Vision learned from Feige:
Joss Whedon called Feige about writing and directing Batgirl movie for DC.
Whedon spent years at Marvel not just as the writer and director of the two
Avengers movies but also as a consultant, giving input on other projects. And thus when it was revealed he was
taking on Batgirlfor DC, fans were shocked at the news. It turns out Feige had known about it for a while. And was cool about it.
"He called. A couple months ago, which he didn't have to do and was super cool of him and super nice of him," Feige said. "And we couldn't be more supportive. We want to see a Joss Whedon
Batgirl film be awesome."
Spider-Man is in Avengers 4 … and Marvel has no involvement in the Spidey spinoffs.
Marvel's landmark deal with Sony has allowed the wall-crawler to enter the MCU, and Feige confirmed Spider-Man will appear in 2019's untitled
Avengers 4. That’s after his starring turn in
Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2018’s
Avengers: Infinity War. After the second Avengers appearance, it will be back for a Homecoming sequel, set for 2019.
“That’s as far as it goes for now,” Feige said. (For now? Hmm.)
Sony is moving ahead with Spidey spin-offs for
Venom and a
Silver Sable, Black Cat teamup movie, but Marvel isn't involved.
"We had a very particular plan about Spidey himself," Feige explained when asked why Marvel wasn't involved in Sony's projects with those characters, although he kept those plans to himself.
James Gunn's role could extend past Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Gunn revealed Monday that he will return to write and direct
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and he teased that just as the first ten years of Marvel's movies built to 2018's
Avengers: Infinity War, the third
Guardians film would help set up the next ten years of movies. Feige suggested Gunn's relationship with Marvel could extend past that film, which does not yet have a release date.
"I think James in particular has an amazing connection with these characters and with this cosmic world. So he, I think, could easily oversee additional stories beyond
Vol. 3," said Feige. "And I think has them and just continues to come up with them, which is cool. All of our core writers and filmmakers know what we are doing in other places and help give input on the various projects."
There's nothing wrong with Josh Brolin playing multiple book roles.
The geek world was abuzz last week when it was confirmed Josh Brolin, who plays
Avengers: Infinity War's villain Thanos, had been
cast as Cable in Fox's
Deadpool 2.
"We don't have anything written into our contracts about other roles that people can do," said Feige when asked if that was an issue. "Indiana Jones and Han Solo are the same person … it hasn't been a problem. And I think Thanos and Cable are two very different characters."
Feige has no plans for an R-rated movie.
Don’t look for an R rated Marvel movie in wake of success of such bloody and potty-mouthed movies such as
Logan and
Deadpool any time soon.
“My takeaway from both of those films is not the R rating, it’s the risk they took, the chances they took, the creative boundaries that they pushed,” Feige explained. “That should be the takeaway for everyone.”
While the R-rating is an easy-identifiable trait of those movies, Feige cited the breaking of the fourth wall in
Deadpool and the finality of the Wolverine story as examples of what made those movies stand out.
Marvel's Kevin Feige on Why the Studio Won't Make R-Rated Movies, 'Guardians 2' and Joss Whedon's DC Move