Warning: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 spoilers are discussed in this interview.

One of the things I love about Marvel releasing a new film is I usually get the chance to talk with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. As the mastermind behind Marvel’s worldwide success, I can’t stress enough how thankful I am that he’s the one leading the studio. The fact is it’s hard to make a movie. It’s even harder to make a great movie. But to keep making films that audiences around the world love for a decade is astounding and it’s only due to Feige’s leadership and the great team of executives that surround him. We’re living in a great time to be a fan of comic book movies and it’s important to take the time to appreciate the people bringing them to life.

At the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 press day I landed an exclusive interview with Kevin Feige. He talked about the after-credits scenes and what they mean, Adam Warlock, the future of the MCU, if he’ll ever cameo in the films, why Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 aren’t shooting at the same time, Thanos’ motivation in Infinity War, the status of Doctor Strange 2, Black Panther, if there is any chance to partner up with Fox for Fantastic Four, and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.

I'm curious about the Stallone, Michelle Yeoh, Michael Rosenbaum post-credit scene. Is that a set up towards a future endeavor of Guardians/a future movie, or was that just a fun bit for Guardians 2?

FEIGE: It's always a bit of both. It's always we do it because it's fun in the moment, and it's fun as a potential sneak of what's to come. I think all things being equal; James and everybody at Marvel would love to see the continued adventures in some aspect. Whether it's a large part in a future movie, or as James just said, a Howard the Duck level appearance, down the line of those any or all of those original Guardians. Really, the most important immediate thing for us was just to establish and showcase, "Yes. Those original Guardians, though they may never have called themselves that in our movie mythology, they exist."

Why Adam Warlock? Why now?

FEIGE: Not to tease anything in regard to Infinity War. Mainly to plant a flag for his involvement in future Guardians stories. Adam Warlock is a character that we all love very much. James in particular has come very close, as I think he's revealed recently, to including him in Vol 2, but when it was decided that that was one character too many, and the movie coalesced into the awesome form it is now he wanted to seed that appearance in future Guardians movies in the tag.

Do you think that Adam Warlock could have his own franchise, like his own movie, or do you envision him just like a Guardians thing?

FEIGE: Right now, I think we envision him as a Guardians thing. That being said, with James at the helm up to this point certainly I and I would presume it would continue to be the case, any one of his Guardians or any pairing of his Guardians I think could carry their own movies now.

There's a lot to be excited for in the upcoming MCU slate. What are your top three most anticipated things? Whether it is directors, characters, and scenes. What are the three things you are just so excited for?

FEIGE: That is a very hard question to answer, but I would say as we are finally finishing and unveiling on the world the next solo, Tom Holland's Peter Parker adventure is something I’m very excited about. I think he's amazing, and I think the notion of Spider-Man in the MCU is one of the most exciting things that has happened to us in our almost ten year history. I can't wait. Some people have glimpsed a little peek already. I'm excited for the to see their first glimpse to what Ryan Coogler is doing on Black Panther, which I think is groundbreaking, and is going to excite a lot of people. And every day what we're filming on Infinity War is amongst the best stuff we have ever put on film.

When are you going to make your first cameo?

FEIGE: I think I revealed recently that I've already done a cameo in one of the very first movies I ever did. X-Men 1 I did a cameo.

I meant more recently.

FEIGE: That was fine. That was enough. It was perfect. I was covered head to foot. You couldn’t see me at all, and it ended up on the cutting room floor. So, it's sort of the best-case scenario all around.

When does Captain Marvel start filming? What is your schedule of production for the next few Marvel movies?

FEIGE: Assuming everything stays on schedule, we start filming the Ant Man and The Wasp in June. We start filming Untitled Avengers in August, and we start filming Captain Marvel in February.

That's interesting. I thought you guys were doing both Avengers movies at the same time?

FEIGE: We are doing them one right after the other.

So, you're just filming Infinity War right now?

FEIGE: Basically yes.

Wasn't the original intention to shoot both at the same time?

FEIGE: Yes. It became too complicated to cross-board them like that. Something would always pay the price. We wanted to be able to focus and shoot one movie, and then focus and shoot another movie.

This makes more sense cause the Russos told me, and I believe you told me the idea was each movie would look and feel a little different, and I was wondering, “How the hell are you gonna pull that off shooting the same day?"

FEIGE: Yeah. We're not.

In the comics Thanos’ motivation is his love for Death. Is she going to be a character in the films, or will his motives be more abstract?

FEIGE: They'll be similar to what they were in the Infinity Gauntlet in various ways. I guess that's all I can say about that.

Can we confirm Doctor Strange 2 with Scott Derrickson directing for 2020?

FEIGE: No. You cannot.

Are we close to announcing Doctor Strange 2? Is that something you guys are actively developing?

FEIGE: We're not actively discussing anything past Untitled Avengers other than we've dated Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, which wouldn't be the title, but that's what we call it because that's the agreement we made with Sony for the inclusion of Spidey in the Avengers films, and James Gunn doing a third Guardians of the Galaxy at some point, but really the whole focus of Marvel Studios is the next eight films, counting Guardians 2, the next eight films that are going to take up all of our time.

Do you have an idea of what the MCU looks like post Infinity War?

FEIGE: We have an idea yes, and it's going to be very different.

There are many actors whose contracts run out with Infinity War: Part 2, or Infinity War. How much are the actors' contracts running out figuring into what you want to do with these characters because the fact is people, in my opinion, have to die in Infinity War, or someone's going to die or people could die to make the stakes that strong with Thanos, and make it feel really deep. So, I guess how is that sort of factoring in with contracts? Is that factoring in at all?

FEIGE: We've been lucky that it hasn’t factored in too much. We've had people under contract for certain films. Then, we've had new ideas and new directions, like Civil War, that we wanted to do, and we've been lucky enough to make new contracts. Or Spider-Man: Homecoming, the cast has been awesome in their enthusiasm for the direction of the storylines that we've been telling. So, it really does right now all start with where we want to take the stories, and certainly as we get to Infinity War there's a sense of a climax and if not a conclusion to, by the time we're at Untitled, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. I don’t know if it's phase four. It might be a new thing.

You guys are making Spider-Man 2 with Sony. Is the idea that this could continue going on, or are you sort of like you're just lucky to do these two? Are you thinking about beyond that with that character?

FEIGE: Every time we make a movie, Guardians included, Black Panther included, Infinity War included, we just feel lucky to be making that movie, and that's basically what the focus is on. We're just lucky to feel lucky and thankful that Homecoming came together, and that everybody wants to continue that with another Spidey avenger post Avengers movies. Where we go beyond that is not even thinking about right now.

I guess it's too soon to ask you about what's your Doctor Strange of Phase Four or the character you’ve been waiting for the right time to do?

FEIGE: Too early.

What is cinematographer Rachel Morrison bringing to Black Panther that will make the movie stand out?

FEIGE: Well, you saw some of the stuff. It's right there. She has a very good eye, and under the direction Ryan Coogler is putting together some of the most beautiful photography that we've had, and she is playing on a much bigger canvas than she ever has before, and has stepped up to it. It just finished yesterday, and I couldn't be happier with what that looks like, and how that will continue to evolve what people think of when they think of a Marvel Studios production.

Looking back on the MCU thus far, is there one movie, moment, or character you’d love to go back and tweak because you feel it missed the mark slightly? 

FEIGE: I think it's human nature to go and to watch things that are done, and see the flaws, but I cannot think of anything that we would want to go so far as to completely change or redo to be honest with you. I think there are characters, you look at the Thor: Ragnarok trailer, there are characters that can evolve and can continue to change and grow throughout. That's one of the benefits, one of the most exciting things of having a film series that has multiple parts, and that's what excited us is how do we take what worked, and expand upon it or even surprisingly change it up. That's what we focus on as opposed to, "I wish that was different."

Is there any sort of thaw or talk between you guys and Fox so we can get Fantastic Four, or have you guys been working on Fantastic Four with them?

FEIGE: No, but I would say there's not like there's anything frozen that there needs to be a thaw. There's no weirdness. It is just very very cut and dry, and they're doing their thing, and they're doing it quite well in most regards, and we're doing our thing.

GOTG2 related links:

• Zoe Saldana Says the Guardians Bring Levity to the “Quite Dramatic” ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
• ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’: James Gunn Will Return to Write and Direct
• Get to Know Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’: A New Book Covers 50 Years of History
• ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2′: Elizabeth Debicki on Going Gold and When She Shot THAT Scene
• The Biggest Easter Eggs in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’