While under promotional duties for Thor: The Dark World, Kevin Feige has offered several updates on Marvel Studios' upcoming slate. But speaking with French website Reviewer recently, the producer discussed possibly every rumor or concern that has surfaced involving their productions; from as far back as Edward Norton's departure, and as recent as Sir Ben Kingsley's "secret" project. Also, throughout the Q&A, Kevin offers quite a few vague updates on the Phase Two movies.
What happens if you don't share the same vision as your co-workers, like Joss Whedon?
"Well, thankfully, particularly with Joss, we find ourselves on the same page most of the time. Which is why it was such a pleasure doing Avengers with him, and everything leading up to Age of Ultron has been great. But, that’s the nature of filmmaking: a collaborative process where you’re not always gonna agree. The people that fight the most are my exec. producers at Marvel. That has led to better decisions and better movies, I think. That’s healthy."
What do you think of Warner Bros/DC Comics and Batman Vs. Superman?
"You know, Batman and Superman meet up in the comics quite a bit. And I always say that all of us at Marvel started as film fans and comic fans, and the idea of seeing a Batman and Superman film excites us. The idea of seeing it only because of the success that we have had is very flattering."
But do you think Warner Bros. are rushing the shared universe?
"I think there’s probably lots of different ways to achieve something. We have to remember that The Avengers comics only happened because the Justice League comic was successful in the 60’s. Now the movies are happening because The Avengers movie was successful. And what's fun about The Avengers, is that it was existing, well-known heroes, all teaming up teaming up or the first time. Certainly Batman & Superman are well-know. So, they have that."
What about Sir Ben Kingsley and that "secret" project?
"I think the keyword here is "secret", ha ha !"
Is it a TV show, movie or short film?
(Kevin Feige shakes his head)
You said that Tony Stark could be like James Bond, with a new actor playing him in the future.
"Could be..."
But do you think someday you will have to reboot all the Marvel movies?
"The good news is, I don’t have to think about that anytime soon. All the actors are signed up for many years, I’m signed up for many years. We have plans for many years. So, all we have to worry about right know is what story do we wanna tell, what movie do we wanna make next, where do we wanna take these now iconic characters and what new characters do we want to introduce. But, just the way directors can change from movie to movie, and production one day can change one day from movie to movie. And the way in comics artists and writers are changed, you know I think you’ll see actors changing. But luckily for me, and for the audience, that won’t happen anytime soon at Marvel."
But if you’re still doing this job in 20 years from now, do you want a reboot sometime or do you want to keep the continuity alive?
"I’m more interested in keeping it going. And that’s what I meant by Tony Stark being like James Bond. Or like Batman, these iconic characters that can keep going. And maybe sometimes, you do a Casino Royale or Batman Begins, or things like that. But there’s so many great stories in the comics, why would we want to retell the origins over and over?"
What can you say about Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in The Avengers: Age of Ultron?
"They’re going to be incredibly exciting and live adventures! No, I can’t say much about it. Joss of course has revealed that they will play a huge part in the movie, they will play a huge part in the movie. But, we can’t say much more than that."
Are they good guys or bad guys in the movie?
"Well, we take all of our inspiration from the comics, so... Clues exist !"
Is there gonna be a fourth Iron Man movie?
"Well, if I believe Tony Stark to be James Bond, then there would be and Iron Man 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... What is James Bond on at? Twenty?"
So, no Robert Downey Jr.?
"That’s the question. And again, that’s a question we won’t have to face until after Avengers 3. So that’s at least five or six years away."
You said Ultron is a threat they will see coming in The Avengers sequel, can you elaborate on that?
"...No, I can’t. But it will be clear why they have come back together in this film. Which I hope kind of makes it clear retroactively why they didn’t get together at the end of Iron Man 3. Why they didn’t get together to help Thor save London in this film. Some of that will be clear in Captain America : The Winter Soldier. And I think I’ve said that Cap 2 is the link between Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron."
Is Ultron gonna be an Artificial intelligence that Tony Stark built?
"We are adapting his origins from the comics, and in the comics it was Hank Pym. Hank Pym is not in Age of Ultron, so we are tweaking it. We do think there’s another character we have that is quite good with AI, so smart people can make assumption which I can not confirm or deny (He smiles while saying this)."
Speaking of Hank Pym, there're rumors that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Rudd are up for the role
"There was rumours that there was discussions. Sometimes rumors are true, sometimes they’re not true. The only thing that is true, is that Edgar Wright is officially in pre-production, he comes to the Marvel office everyday, he and his Marvel partner are tweaking the draft, and we are beginning to have casting discussions. But beyond that, everything is a rumour."
Would you prefer a big-name actor or relatively unknown?
"We’re open to either one. You know, we like introducing new faces, like Chris Hemsworth or Tom Hiddleston, that people haven’t seen before. We like taking people like Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Pratt, that people have at least heard of. We love to surprise people. We will follow that same model."
Are you planning another solo Hulk movie?
"We have been discussing after Avengers what that would be, what that would look like. It’s really Mark Ruffalo portrayal of Bruce Banner, in the way Joss Whedon brought him to life in Avengers that worked. It’s even why you ask me that question. Which is good, we wanted that to happen, we wanted people to come out of Avengers saying The Hulk was their favorite character or at least on of their favorite. The fact that it did happen, was awesome. So, you know, all of the effort related to Hulk right know is going to Age of Ultron. It’s exciting, because he hasn’t been in any other film, so you can expect to have a lot of Bruce Banner and Hulk in Age of Ultron. Where we go after that ? We’ll see. It will be a little while before we figure that out but, we do think there’s plenty of opportunities with the Ruffalo Banner."
What really happened with Edward Norton when you negotiated for The Avengers?
"There never really was a negotiation period on that one."
You didn’t want him for the role?
"They were very very brief, limited discussions. But very soon after that, very early on the process, we identified Mark Ruffalo as who we wanted to play the character."
How are things looking for Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy?
"The only footage of Ant-Man is the test footage which I and Edgar showed to Comic Con. We start filming that next summer. Guardians of the Galaxy, we just finished filming that like a week ago. It is really a very special movie for us at Marvel. We love those characters, we believe in that storyline. Nobody’s ever heard of it, which is in some ways liberating. The way many people had never heard of Iron Man before the first Iron Man movie. So we’re excited to find ourselves sort in the same creative state of mind we were on Iron Man 1. Which is to say : ‘How do we best introduce those characters that most people don’t know, and bring them to a big audience ?’ What James Gunn has done, both in his script and directing the cast... The cast that has been assembled is one that we’re very proud of. The footage looks incredible. People who stay after the credits in Thor: The Dark World will see the initial glimpse of that world."
For the full Q&A, where Kevin Feige discusses the Oscorp Tower almost appearing The Avengers, and the new potential TV shows Marvel have in the works, head over to Reviewer.fr.