Anytime a Marvel movie comes out, getting the opportunity to sit down for a chat with Marvel Studios PresidentKevin Feigeis a definite must. He’s been the driving creative force behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a very hands-on producer, and withAnt-Man and The Wasp(the 20thmovie in 10 years) hitting theaters, he’s the go-to guy for answers, as long as you don’t mind cryptic answers that don’t reveal more than he’s ready to tell you.
At a press day held at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif., producer Kevin Feige sat down with Collider for this 1-on-1 interview, in which he talked about when you might hear the word “mutant” in a Marvel movie, whenSpider-Man: Far From Homestarts shooting, how long fans will have to wait for aCaptain Marveltrailer, when they’re likely to announce the title ofAvengers 4, where they’re at withGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, shooting more Marvel movies in IMAX, whether they’d consider releasing four films a year, his favorite Marvel props, and how he’d feel about an R-rated Marvel movie. He also talked about the possibility of a thirdAnt-Manmovie, the film’s fun supporting characters, deleted scenes, and what he was most excited about and most nervous about pulling off.
Collider: If the Fox deal closes and Disney acquires the studio, how quickly will you use the word “mutant” in a movie?
KEVIN FEIGE: That’s a good question. I don’t know. First of all, I have no idea what’ll happen with that, one way or the other. If it doesn’t happen, we’ll continue to do what we’re doing now. If it does happen, we’ll figure out how to do things. Usually though, it takes awhile, for an idea to get on the screen. I think it will be years before we would integrate anything.
Tom Holland just revealed that the title of the nextSpider-Manmovie isSpider-Man: Far From Home, which makes sense since some of the film takes place in Europe. What was the other title that came close to being used?
FEIGE: That was pretty much the title. The other title wasHomecoming 2, and we didn’t want to do that.
When do you start filming theSpider-Mansequel, and is the shooting schedule similar to the first film?
FEIGE: The shooting schedule will be the average of all of our shooting schedules. And it starts very soon. It starts early next month (July).
Have you had serious talks about Michael Peña’s character, and the other security people he works with, getting more screen time in another movie or a spin-off, or are they best-suited as side characters inAnt-Manmovies?
FEIGE: Well, certainly, from the first one to this one, we thought it was best-suited for this. Even though we expanded the role in this one, where we see him in the future, I don’t know. They’re just so much fun.
When will we get to see the firstCaptain Marveltrailer?
FEIGE: That film is still shooting for another couple weeks, so I think it’ll be a few months.
Are you close to announcing the title ofAvengers 4?
FEIGE: That’ll be after theCaptain Marvelteaser, probably. Announcing that title, it’ll be towards the end of the year, with however we launch that film.
We’ve heard that Marvel is planning some cool 10thanniversary screenings in August. What can you reveal about what’s coming?
FEIGE: Are we doing 10thanniversary screenings in August? We could. It’s astounding to me that we’re at 10 years and, withAnt-Man and The Wasp, our 20thfilm in the MCU. I like that the celebration of 10 years andInfinity War, in particular, has made people go back and watch the first 18 and 19, which is great. Even at Marvel Studios, we’re going back and looking at some of our early films that we haven’t watched in awhile. They’re pretty good.
When are you aiming to start filmingGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and where are you in the development process for that?
FEIGE: James [Gunn] has delivered a draft [of the script], and we begin official pre-production on that very, very soon. It’ll be shooting early next year.Captain Marvelfinishes in about two weeks,Spider-Manstarts in about two weeks, and thenGuardians 3will start early next year.
With the success ofAvengers: Infinity Warand the sequel being shot fully using IMAX cameras, have you had any conversations about filming any future Marvel movies in all IMAX?
FEIGE: Yeah. It’s one of our amazing tools in the toolbox for storytelling. I’m not sure what the next film is that we’ll shoot entirely with those cameras, but we’ll certainly shoot some sequences. EvenAnt-Man and The Waspgoes to that ratio for certain sequences because it’s great. Anything that gets people into the theaters to have an experience they can’t get, even on their 75-inch TV at home, is important, and IMAX does a great job of that.
With or without the Fox deal, do you think Disney and Marvel will release four films a year, anytime soon?
FEIGE: I don’t know. The plan right now is three. The plan had been two, for a long time, and we always said that when we felt that we had the bandwidth for it and that we could do it in a way that wouldn’t jeopardize any quality, we’d go to three. That’s where we are now. We might do four someday, but not in the immediate future.
Do you have any interest in making Marvel stand-alone films, the way DC is talking about it with the Todd Phillips Joker movie, which could also be an interesting way to entice talent that might not want to sign on for multiple films?
FEIGE: I think we already do that. Not every actor signs on for multiple films. It depends what the role is and what the story is. A film likeAnt-Man and The Waspis 99% a standalone movie. We wanted to tell a fun family story that wasn’t burdened by lots of other connective tissue, and that’s what this film is. So, I think we can do both.
A lot of rumors are bubbling up that you’re close to making aBlack Widowmovie. Do you envision that film taking place in the present day, or will it be a prequel showing her origin?
FEIGE: It’s way too early to talk about that or about anything afterAvengers 4, other thanSpider-ManandGuardians.
Is that also the case for how far you are in the process of hiring a director for that?
FEIGE: Yeah, I can’t talk about it.
What’s your favorite Marvel prop that you own or have taken home, and why?
FEIGE: My favorite Marvel prop? Well, the Marvel props are the property of The Walt Disney Company, so I don’t walk off with them, but we have some Iron Man suits in our lobby at our office. There’s the triangle, a Captain America shield, and also a framed version of the Camp Lehigh flag fromCaptain America: The First Avenger, that Steve Rogers pulls down, as one of his early tests when he’s skinny Steve, that I like very much. What else do we have? We’ve got Surtur’s skull on the wall. We have the busts of Jeff Goldblum, looking at us in the hallways. That’s cool. That’s fun. That’s about it.
I think everybody should have a bust of Jeff Goldblum watching over them.
FEIGE: They should. You’re totally right!
Is there any movement on Marvel making R-rated movies, or with the success of the PG-13 films, is that not something you’re even thinking about?
FEIGE: You know, we’ve been able to tell the stories that we want to tell, and we don’t ever feel hamstrung, or feel like we’re not able to do something that we want to do. PG-13 has fit all the different variety of tones that we want to do, and that will probably continue for awhile.
Ant-Man and The Waspis such a delight. It’s just so fun and so funny. Have you already had discussions about the 3rdinstallment and ideas of where it might go, or is that not something you’ve thought about yet?
FEIGE: Well, you can’t help but think about it, right? What we do is we sit around and we talk about what would be cool and what would be fun. So, sure, we’ve had discussions, and we have ideas of where we could go and what could happen, but when it would happen and where it would fit in our schedule are to be determined, in the future.
Marvel fans love hearing about deleted scenes. Which sequences were cut out ofAnt-Man and The Wasp?
FEIGE: There were a few. There weren’t any major ones. It’s more extended scenes and maybe a few alternate versions of scenes, and things like that. It’s nothing major, but I think there’ll be a good amount of material on the home video release. It’ll just be fun to see different versions of Paul [Rudd] gags and Evangeline [Lilly] lines, and stuff like that.
Before filming began, which sequence were you most excited to see on screen?
FEIGE: What I was most excited about was The Wasp. The first movie was all about the fact that she should be in a suit and she should be fighting at the forefront, and there were all the reasons that her father didn’t want her to be, so this one was all about how quickly we could showcase what she can do and put her at the forefront. That was always the thing that we spoke about most and was most fun. The other thing that was exciting for us is continuing to play with scale. The notion that they have outfitted vehicles that are able to grow and shrink with people inside them, and the notion that Paul’s suit doesn’t quite work, was fun for us. It was fun to see Paul at three feet tall, and play with that for humor, and we also got to showcase the Pym Tech in ways that we hadn’t seen before.
What do you most love about The Wasp, as a character?
FEIGE: The notion that she is somebody who is in a strange relationship with her father because he had become obsessed with finding her mother, but never told her about any of that, and she was clearly born to follow in her parents’ and her mother’s footsteps, to finally see her unleashed and to see her expertly able to step into the role she didn’t even realize she was born to be in, was something that was fun for us. It was also something that Evangeline was able to run with.
What were you most nervous about getting right, with this film?
FEIGE: Everything. All of this. We wanted to do something different with villains in this movie. Coming off of Thanos and Killmonger, we wanted to have, on one hand, a villain who is just there, essentially, for fun and to cause chaos, and another villain who, as you peel back the layers, you see as a completely tragic figure. That’s something unique for us.
Ant-Man and The Waspopens in theaters on July 6th.
