We kind of know that Marvel Studios has a few pictures in the works — ‘Black Widow’, ‘Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu’, ‘The Eternals’, and sequels such as ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3’, ‘Doctor Strange 2’, ‘Black Panther 2’, and ‘Captain Marvel 2’ — but the studio, all of the actors, and president Kevin Feige have been tight-lipped about specifics. While comic readers may be excited about a ‘Shang-Chi’ or ‘Eternals’ movie, most others are more concerned with what Marvel will do with the two properties that just shifted under its control when Disney bought out 20th Century Fox– The X-Men and Fantastic Four.
Though Feige is still staying mostly mum, he did hint:
“We were waiting for Avengers: Endgame to drop and for Spider-Man: Far From Home to be released, and now, very shortly, we’ll be peeling back the curtain and talking about the future.”
This is clearly a reference to the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, where Marvel will return for a panel in Hall H after skipping the con last year, in order to maintain the secrecy around ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and other upcoming releases. “Well… [there will] be a lot to talk about if we’re there. I’ll tell you that.”
While he wouldn’t get into specifics, he was more open than previously to discuss how the X-Men and FF characters might be integrated into the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe. While speaking to Fandango, he discussed the brainstorming sessions that go into the decisions of how certain characters are introduced– whether in their own pictures or guest-appearances in other movies first. It’s clear that Feige and his brain trust are still figuring out how the Fox imports will best work.
“It’s still early days, but it’s been a fun exercise, and it’s one, by the way, that we’ve been doing for years. Every development meeting starts with cool ideas and fun ideas, and our wheels are always turning in terms of what if… to use a Marvel publishing term. What if we did this? What if we did that? What if we had access to such and such characters? That’s how Spider-Man: Homecoming came together in the first place, and it’s fun to now be in this position with the Fox characters, too, because if we come up with a great “What If” we can actually do it.”
While it still doesn’t sound as though Marvel has a firm plan in place to introduce these characters, it is something that they are thinking about, and if Feige is any indication, are quite excited about.
“It’s great to [finally] have what most companies that hold a lot of intellectual property have, and it’s access to all those characters. We were one of the few companies that has a lot of characters but didn’t have access to a whole bunch of them, and now that we do, it’s wonderful. They’re back in the sandbox, in the toy chest, and now as ideas come up and as opportunities come up, we can utilize them, which feels really nice.”
Expect more news in July when Marvel returns to SDCC, which will take place from July 18-21. In the meantime, the only MCU movie currently scheduled for release is ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, which opens on July 2nd.
