Marvel stuck one hell of a landing when Joss Whedon’s The Avengers hit theaters this past May and brought the studio’s “Phase One” of films to a close.  The tag at the end of the superhero juggernaut—a glimpse of supervillain Thanos—made for quite the tease regarding Phase Two, and over the past few months fans have been speculating as to how the purple guy will factor into the studio’s upcoming slate of films.  The most recent rumors have Thanos coming into play towards the end of Phase Two in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2, which will likely bring Phase Two to a close and usher in a new slate of films for Phase Three.Though Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is remiss to make any confirmations, he’s always happy to geek out about the Marvel universe and what’s coming up.  He recently spoke a bit about the studio’s plans for Thanos and how that factors in to not only Phase Two, but also Phase Three, and he addressed the possibility of recasting the role.  Hit the jump for more.thanos-comic-book-imageSpeaking with MTV, Feige admitted that they were aware most of the Avengers moviegoers would be puzzled by the Thanos tease, but they loved the idea of sending audiences out of the theater talking about what they just saw:

"There's a great track record now about lobbing something in at the last moment to get the audience buzzing. Particularly when it came to Thanos, [we knew] that most people in that audience had no idea who that purple guy was — but they could clearly tell he was important, and knew if they asked the two or three people sitting next to them, somebody would know who he was."

Though the tease made for one hell of a conversation starter, that tag wasn’t thrown into the film for nothing:

"Clearly, there's a purpose to us putting him in the end of that movie. We do have plans for him. I wouldn't say we ever feel the need to rush anything one way or the other. We succeeded in Phase One because we stuck to our guns and stuck to the plan. That plan took place over many, many years and it ultimately paid off. I see Phase Two unfolding in the same way of us taking our time, us doing what's right for each individual movie, while folding in elements that will not only build up to the culmination of Phase Two, but even Phase Three."

In other words, don’t hold your breath for a Thanos sighting in Iron Man 3 or Thor: The Dark World. Though Whedon and Marvel cast actor/stuntman Damion Poitier to portray the baddie at the end of The Avengers, Feige admits that they’ll probably recast the role when he reappears:

"I think we feel pretty free to recast. That was cast for literally that one shot. Depending on what the role requires from future movies, we'll go from there."

As I mentioned in our earlier post regarding Thanos appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2, it will likely be quite some time before we hear any solid word regarding the character.  That said, it’s clear from Feige’s comments that Marvel has some big plans for the villain in Phase Two.  As a refresher, here’s what the Phase Two lineup looks like as of right now:

  • Iron Man 3 – May 3rd, 2013
  • Thor: The Dark World – November 8th, 2013
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier – April 4th, 2014
  • Guardians of the Galaxy – August 1st, 2014
  • The Avengers 2 – May 1st, 2015

Check out what Feige had to say about possible Hulk movies following The Avengers 2.  

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Image via Marvel Comics