Bringing "Deadpool 3" to life, "Spider-Man 4," Harrison Ford joining the MCU and "Blade's" delays: Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige sat down to answer all our burning questions at the "Deadpool & Wolverine" press day. Watch as CinemaBlend's Managing Editor, Sean O'Connell dives into everything Marvel fans want to know about the future of the beloved franchise.
00:00Somebody just said, congrats on Blue Beetle to me.
00:03People don't know. People don't know.
00:05Nobody knows.
00:06Everybody knows.
00:08Get your special sock out, nerds.
00:10I would love to start here.
00:12We wouldn't be sitting here if the leaked Deadpool footage didn't get out years ago.
00:18I ate some bananas.
00:20B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
00:23Oh, hello there.
00:25Do you remember seeing that for the first time?
00:26And as a Marvel president now at this point, you can't condone leaked footage.
00:31But ultimately, that got us here.
00:33Yes, and I saw that footage and experienced that as you did,
00:38just as an outsider and as a fan looking at it.
00:41And I still don't know the true story of it, by the way.
00:43I've asked Ryan.
00:44He doesn't really tell me.
00:46No.
00:47But if it was a masterful play, then it was masterful.
00:51And I'm glad he did it, because as you say, here we are.
00:53Here we are.
00:54I'm the Messiah.
00:55I am Marvel Jesus.
01:01Audience is going to learn about the concept of an anchor being.
01:03Who is the anchor being of Earth 616?
01:06I will not tell you that, but I love that you asked.
01:08And I love that in just these 37 minutes, that that term has grabbed onto the imagination of people.
01:15The TVA is a fascinating concept.
01:17There's so much to explore with that.
01:18I agree 100%.
01:19Marvel's production schedule, four movies in 2021, three in 2022 and 2023, one this year.
01:27Creatively, strategically, what did that allow you guys time to do at Marvel Studios?
01:31Well, a lot of those, the cadence that you just mentioned, a lot of that was because of the pandemic and because of the strike.
01:39As often happens, sometimes what seems like a disadvantage to have to be able to shuffle around ends up being something that is good.
01:52And the notion that we have one movie to focus on this year, I think is great, not just internally for us, but for audiences.
01:59We've had so many projects between the movies and the Disney Plus series that I think it's nice to be able to focus on an event.
02:08Sure.
02:08Because to me, that's what every movie of ours should be, is an event that grabs onto the imagination of the world.
02:15I want to show you something huge.
02:17I don't think you're supposed to say that.
02:19Obviously, you guys have worked several times, well, not Marvel Studios, but bringing the Fantastic Four to life through visual effects.
02:25And, you know, you've seen technology evolve over the years.
02:28I'm curious what you can even just speak to in terms of how their power is going to be realized on screen and some of the things that maybe you're working on progressively to bring them to life.
02:37Things like The Thing and The Human Torch.
02:39Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, Matt Shackman is very, very good at utilizing visual effects.
02:44The most important thing for us, stretching's got to look cool, rocky exterior of the Thing has got to look cool, the flame's got to look cool, invisible.
02:53It's all about the character.
02:54Sure.
02:55It's all about the family.
02:56It's all about that dynamic.
02:57So the minute we got that cast that we've announced signed up, 90% of the work was done.
03:03Right.
03:03That is what the focus is of the movie.
03:05I could tell you have a sort of don't get too close, I'll only break your heart vibe going here.
03:09And you were really excited to talk about on the official Marvel podcast about that alternate city that existed there.
03:15Yes.
03:15It seems like this is opening up a brand new landscape for you guys to play around in.
03:19A literal new universe.
03:20Yes.
03:21Yes, that's right.
03:22That's really great.
03:23What a clever way to get into it.
03:24Your little cinematic universe is about to change forever.
03:28I have to ask you what it's like to bring Harrison Ford into the MCU.
03:31It is great and I'm sure we'll talk more about that for Captain America Brave New World, but that trailer has just come out and I think people get to see that side of Harrison and we're working on more pieces that will be unveiled between now and the movie coming out that is even better.
03:47It is surreal to work with him.
03:52Yeah, that's got to be a dream.
03:53He's incredible.
03:53And he's everything everybody wants to believe he is.
03:56Right.
03:56Still to this day.
03:57I mean, I would assume you had a list of people crossing off of like to bring in and he had to be near the top.
04:02Absolutely.
04:02I was very jealous.
04:03My friend John Favreau worked with him on a movie called Cowboys and Aliens after Iron Man.
04:08Yeah.
04:08I thought that's so cool.
04:09Are we ever going to be able to ever be able to do it?
04:11Right.
04:12And now I went to dinner with him in Atlanta and we were filming and I went to the restaurant and I said, oh, I'm meeting somebody.
04:19I think he's using a secret name or I don't know what his secret name is.
04:21And they go, Harrison Ford.
04:23I said, yeah, he doesn't use secret name.
04:25He doesn't care.
04:26That's incredible.
04:27I am soaking wet right now.
04:30You mentioned that there's a script for Spider-Man 4 coming, which is really exciting.
04:33I know people want news on that.
04:34We love what John Watts has done.
04:36Would you like him to continue or are you looking for a fresh voice?
04:39We love John.
04:40John did three of the best Spider-Man films ever for us.
04:43He's got lots of things going on now.
04:46So we'll probably be looking for somebody else just because he's busy.
04:52Yeah, Star Wars.
04:53I never got a chance to thank you for No Way Home, by the way.
04:56It was such a busy time and so much going on.
04:59And that movie, I can't tell you what that movie means to me.
05:01I mean, I watch it on a regular basis and I can't believe it exists.
05:04That's great.
05:04Me neither.
05:05It's so fantastic.
05:10Stop it.
05:12I was lucky enough to go to Cleveland last month and watch James' film Superman.
05:16Oh, cool.
05:17And I know, obviously, your love for the Donners and your love for James.
05:20Yep.
05:21Have you seen anything that he's been doing over there?
05:23What are your thoughts on him and Superman?
05:25I've seen the paparazzi shots that I'm sure everybody else has seen.
05:27Yeah.
05:27And it looks great to me.
05:28Yeah.
05:29James is the best.
05:30What is your thought in terms of how iron sharpens steel?
05:33Is it good for Marvel Studios if DC is equally competitive for you guys at the time?
05:37Uh, yes.
05:38I've always said yes.
05:39Because number one, I want to see great movies.
05:42And number two, I want there to be great movies in theaters for audiences to go and in between
05:45our movies be reminded that going to the movies is an incredible and singular emotional activity.
05:54Um, so the more great movies there are.
05:56Twisters this weekend is over, uh, over-performing.
05:58I haven't seen it yet, but I can't wait to.
06:00So that's, that's exciting.
06:02And then when it comes to the, to, uh, to, uh, the distinguished competition, as they say,
06:06a lot of people don't know the difference.
06:08Yeah.
06:08Somebody just, just said, congrats on Blue Beetle to me.
06:11People don't know.
06:12People don't know.
06:13Yeah, that's very true.
06:15I didn't even think about that.
06:16Um, you know, but, and one of the things that I love hearing you say this the other day
06:18about superheroes not being necessarily a genre of, that they play around in different genres.
06:23There's this concept that, like, there's a fatigue out there.
06:26Can you just comment on, on your thoughts on the idea of superhero movies and a fatigue?
06:30Well, I've always said, I, you know, starting in 2003, when there were three Marvel films released,
06:37before Marvel Studios, people started asking about fatigue.
06:41And, and I've always believed if the movies are unique and the movies are fun and the movies
06:45are worthwhile, there won't be that fatigue.
06:48I think over the past few years, certainly with the amount of projects we'd had between
06:52Disney Plus and the features, there was a, there was, um, an overabundance, let's say,
06:57of product that I think people, people thought, geez, I love them all.
07:02I want to catch up on them all, but this is a lot to, this is a lot to ingest.
07:05Yeah.
07:05Um, and as you've already talked about with our cadence, slowing that down, making sure
07:10each thing is special, each thing has the time internally to, uh, to be developed right,
07:15which is why our Blade movie is frustratingly taking so long to make sure we get it right.
07:19Um, and then when they're done, like Deadpool and Wolverine, that can really be the focus.
07:24I'm glad you mentioned Blade.
07:25Is it really as complicated behind the scenes?
07:27Like, from the outside in, we're all kind of looking at it like, what's going on with
07:29that?
07:29But is it just, this is part of the process?
07:31It's part of the process, and when you have a character as famous as Blade and an actor
07:36as famous as Mahershala, um, everything that happens just gets a lot of attention.
07:40You know, I'm sure you've heard us talk about, we were struggling, uh, finding the perfect
07:45reason for Deadpool to exist, the third Deadpool movie that MCU, and then Hugh Jackman called.
07:49Yeah.
07:49And it fell into place.
07:50Yeah, yeah.
07:51Right?
07:51Sometimes you need that magic thing that falls into place.
07:54Right.
07:54And sometimes it happens.
07:56Uh, sometimes it takes a day, sometimes it takes two years, sometimes it takes ten years.
08:00Yeah, yeah.
08:00Uh, and that's, but that's what you really should be waiting for until you make something.
