While promoting Thor: The Dark World in London this week, the Huffington Post caught up with Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige and pressed him about recent rumors surrounding their many other productions. The full interview has been embargoed, but the Q&A snippets below touch on Vin Diesel's recent preparation for Guardians of the Galaxy, and the rumored front-runners for the lead role in Edgar Wright's Ant-Man adaptation, Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
When informed of Vin Diesel walking around on stilts, Feige said, "He's got to keep his 50 million followers, or whatever it is, entertained. It's pretty impressive.... I think he's filming "Fast 7" right now -- and occasionally filming himself." On the status of Diesel's casting, the producer says, "Yeah, I think it's close. I think it's close to being official for the Groot character. But, not 100 percent yet. [No], I didn't say that [he was nuts] (laughs). But... this did not exist when we spoke at Comic Con. That is where we sort of found the potential to do something."
Considering Marvel reportedly offered Joseph Gordon-Levitt the lead in Guardians of the Galaxy before making him a current Ant-Man contender, Kevin Feige explains why The Dark Knight Rises actor has made their many shortlists: "Well, sometimes it's because we are legitimately talking, and sometimes it's just because he's a prominent actor out there now. And lots of rumors surround prominent actors." About the other contender for the irredeemable Avenger, Feige would only reply, "Well, nothing is true yet. I like Paul Rudd, too." What do you think?