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 almost 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.
During my 10-minute interview with Feige we talked about Marvel and Sony’s relationship and what the future holds for Spider-Man, if Fox and Marvel still aren’t the best of friends, the challenges of having so many characters in Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Infinity War, the contract status of some of their key players, if a Captain America movie has to star Steve Rogers, if any of the Netflix MCU characters will jump to the big screen, their 2019 and 2020 movies, and a lot more.
Check out what he had to say below and make sure to see Doctor Strange in IMAX 3D. The 3D actually makes the film even better!
Collider: Well first I’ll start with a congratulations. How much were you on Twitter last night at 10 o’clock when the social embargo lifted?
KEVIN FEIGE: I was traveling yesterday so thankfully. I was having just talking with Scott [Derrickson] who told me he was right there and at 9:59. I knew that you guys were seeing it, but thankfully I wasn’t even in a position to check anything until I already got an email with of all of the reactions. So I wasn’t desperately doing that.
Yeah, I saw Scott Derrickson was retweeting and liking…
FEIGE: I don’t know how good that is for our psyches to sit there and wait like that. But when I saw the initial responses at midnight or something a little after it had all happened I was very pleased.
Got a bunch of questions for you from some of my staff and myself. Are the Avengers ever going to be made aware that [Phil] Coulson is alive?
FEIGE: Maybe.
Fans are very excited about the Marvel/Sony team up. Has the iceberg between Fox and Marvel started to thaw or is it still a frozen tundra?
FEIGE: Well, it’s the same as it has always been. I don’t want to attribute it as a frozen wasteland or anything like that.
I’ll say it’s a frozen wasteland.
FEIGE: We all get along and I see them occasionally but there’s no change in any dynamic.
Tom Holland recently said he wasn’t sure if Spider-Man would be in Avengers: Infinity War and a lot of us assumed that the relationship you made with Sony for...are you guys still figuring out the future of Spider-Man with Marvel? How much have you guys figured out where Spider-Man can be and where your characters will go with Sony?
FEIGE: We’re figuring it out. I mean, it was really the specifics for Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Spider-Man: Homecoming just wrapped as you know and we’re just getting into cutting that movie, so that’s the primary focus but we are...that iceberg is thawed and is non existent. So we talk to them all the time about what could be fun for the future.
Yeah, I saw Tom Rothman for the Inferno thing.
FEIGE: Yeah, you filmed it, right? I saw that, yes.
And I liked his reaction.
FEIGE: Where was that? That was in Italy?
It was on Florence on the red carpet.
FEIGE: Oh my God.
What’s great is no one wanted to talk to him or had any idea who he was and I lit up.
FEIGE: And he recognizes you, which I love too.
So is Spider-Man going to be in Avengers: Infinity War or is it maybe?
FEIGE: It is I would say that is part of the surprise. I don’t want to spoil anything one way or another.
For me all of us are thinking it’s like every character is in the movie. Who’s not in the movie is more of a story than who is in my opinion.
FEIGE: I understand, yeah. There are a lot of people in it.
Yeah, exactly. What are the actual filming dates for the next two Avengers movies?
FEIGE: Well without being super specific cameras start rolling in January and will continue rolling in some form or another through October, November.
The [Anthony and Joe] Russos told me that they’re aiming to have each film have their own unique style but filming on the same day.
FEIGE: In some cases, yes, just for efficiency’s sake—but we are treating them both on a production level and a creative level as two distinct movies.
Will we see any new characters in Avengers: Infinity War or is it enough just to bring together the MCU characters in two movies?
FEIGE: It is primarily enough just to bring together all those characters in movies but there will be some new players.
Chris Evans, Hemsworth, a few people they are right at the end of their contracts with the Avengers movies, unless they’ve been resigned. Have you guys started having those conversations about some of these actors are at the end of their deals and a lot of us fans attribute these people to these characters and can’t imagine Thor without Chris Hemsworth.
FEIGE: Sure, I mean, it’s weird to say “at the end of their deals” when in some cases they have three whole movies to go. So we don’t usually think about it until necessary. I can’t remember the last time we did it but it was like with Robert, after Avengers came out, we were dealing with his next movie so we have a long way before we have to worry about that.
Post Avengers 4 what does the MCU look like. Is it going to be a mix of sequels and new movies, will some of the phase one people start to retire, if you will?
FEIGE: I think anything is possible. I think absolutely you’ve seen our model this year last year that we like a new adventure in the ongoing stories of existing characters and then something completely new and completely different. I think next year you will see it with Guardians. Then frankly, I almost count Homecoming and Ragnarok as two almost entirely different and brand new thing— even though there’s been other Spider-Man films and two other Thor films. They’re [both] very, very, different.
Does a Captain America movie have to star Steve Rogers?
FEIGE: It’s a good question and if we look back at the comic books as our inspiration and as the well from which this all springs, then the answer is “no.”
Good.
FEIGE: I’m not saying we’ll do it in the movie but I’ve read Captain America comics that don’t have Steve Rogers in them.
What do you think of the Netflix MCU and do you think any of those characters are going to make the big screen transition?
FEIGE: I think it’s extremely impressive what Netflix has done and it will be the same answer I always give, which is, “It all depends on timing.” It all depends on how to do it because I don’t think what anybody wants to do is have such important characters show up for one second. Black Panther and Spider-Man to me are the high bar in Civil War of how you can bring in new characters into something. Vision and Ultron, Wanda and Pietro in Ultron. And it takes a lot of screentime, and it takes a lot of work. Infinity War has a lot of people in it already. So it just depends on how we could figure it out.
The Infinity War the researchers have joked that there’s like 64 characters. It’s already tough sometimes to balance 11 or 12 characters in a movie, How the hell are you dealing with what could be 40 or 50 characters or whatever that number is? How does that work?
FEIGE: Well it’s about the screenplay and Chris Markus and Steve McFeely—out of everyone we’ve worked with—have a very deft hand with balance. There are a lot of characters in [the first[ Captain America; there are a lot of characters in The Winter Soldier, and of course Civil War has as many as we’ve ever had, so it’s in very capable hands [when] it comes to divvying up the storylines in a way that services a primary narrative but [also] showcases many characters. How many times will all 30, 50, 60 whatever it is be in the frame at the same time that is the hard part. And not much.
Yeah, I was gonna say.
FEIGE: Let’s go this way guys! [laughs]
Marvel has announced 2019 and 2020 placeholders. How much do you guys know what those movies are and just haven’t announced them yet or are they still in flux?
FEIGE: It’s a combination. We know what we’d like them to be for 2020. Over the years, where we’re aiming we’ve been lucky enough that it’s usually been the same thing but we always leave ourselves the opportunity to bob and weave and adapt if we have to. But we know where we’re headed for 2020 and we have ideas and were beginning to solidify the years beyond that.
I’ve always asked you this question and I will ask it again, I believe your contract was through phase three which we are nearing the end of, am I wrong?
FEIGE: I don’t feel like we’re nearing the end of it because there’s ten films in phase three and we’ve released one of them.
Oh so you still have a while to go then?
FEIGE: Yeah, I mean it’s years, a couple years.
Oh I’m just making sure! For fandom—and me personally—we need you manning the ship. You guys opened alternative dimensions with Doctor Strange and you really expand what’s possible in the MCU. Can you talk about balancing that expansion with what you’re doing and what you want to do? It could be tricky.
FEIGE: It is tricky. Whenever we introduce a new character or a new conceit, it’s another tool in the storytelling story box for future movies. I think with all of those tools there are great examples in the comics of how to utilize them in really fun and amazing ways. There are [also] examples of how the whole thing could collapse in on itself—if you’re not careful. So I think we’re well aware of that and want to always try to use new conceits sparingly and in a way that enhances the story we’re telling versus making it unwieldy and confusing to people who haven’t followed along the whole journey.
I’m gonna give you props on the 3D here, because I have come at you in the past and ridiculed Marvel’s 3D attempts....even though Guardians was great, this was Marvel’s first 3D home run.
Well that’s good. You know when you talk about storytelling tools, you have to understand that 3D is always a tool. Sometimes it is a tool that merely enhances something. In the case of Strange, in particular, I think the 3D version tells the story of the movie better.
Oh it’s very impressive.
You’re a tough customer when it comes to that. So I appreciate it.
