With Iron Man 3 officially kicking off Marvel’s Phase Two, studio boss Kevin Feige has given Entertainment Weekly an early glimpse of where the company plans to go with its Phase Three slate of films, which kicks off with Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man in late 2015.
In case you’re just joining us, Phase Two continues with Thor: The Dark World this November, then Captain America: The Winter Soldier next April, Guardians of the Galaxy in August and The Avengers 2 in 2015. After that, it’s anyone’s guess which characters Marvel will role out in their quest to dominate movie cinemas everywhere.
Feige was didn’t have specific details regarding movies for Doctor Strange, Hulk and Iron Man 4, but he did offer up his thoughts on how the characters can live on the big screen. You can read snippets below and head over to EW for the full interview.
Ant-Man
This is the only Phase Three film Marvel has officially announced. Directed by Scott Pilgrim’s Edgar Wright, Feige says the movie came into fruition after Marvel decided to become its own studio.
Doctor Strange
Neil Gaiman talked with me about his plans to do a version of the film with Guillermo del Toro in 2008. That script fell apart, but now Feige says Doctor Strange could happen.
“He’s a great standalone character,” Feige says. “He’s got a great origin story, for the most part. And that world of pure magic, we haven’t done yet. There’s a whole supernatural/magic alternate dimension going on in the Marvel comics that we haven’t ever touched on. So I think that’s exciting.”
Iron Man 4
Robert Downey Jr.’s contract with Marvel is now up. He’s currently in negotiations for Avengers 2, and the studio is talking to him about a fourth instalment in its most popular franchise. Feige has made no secret that the character could continue with another actor playing the part.
“I see no reason why Tony Stark can’t be as evergreen as James Bond. Or Batman for that matter. Or Spider-Man. I think Iron Man is a character just like that.”
The Incredible Hulk
Two versions – one with Eric Bana and another with Edward Norton – have been released with rather middling box-office revenues. A third film with Mark Ruffalo (who played the character in the Avengers) could be a possibility, Feige says. But there’s no script yet.
“One of the goals that we talked about with Joss [Whedon] on Avengers was we want Hulk to be cool again… Mark could stand in his own movie. … We’re talking about it. We’re excited to sit down and go, ‘What is a stand-alone Hulk movie?’”
The EW article also touches on Black Panther, Inhumans, Marvel Zombies, Runaways, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Punisher and Blade.
With regards to the latter three, Feige says: “They all have potential, but I think we need to find the right time.”
Anytime they decide to reboot Daredevil, I’m game for that.
Let us know which characters you hope Marvel introduces in Phase Three in the comments.
