After a weekend that saw “The Avengers” continue its box office dominance, passing $1 billion worldwide, all eyes are now on Marvel Studios to see their next move, which president Kevin Feige was luckily able to shed light on recently.
In an interview with Bloomberg's Carol Mauser (via Deadline), Feige spoke about the studio's future, which presently holds a total of five new films planned within the Marvel universe. “Iron Man 3,” “Thor 2,” and “Captain America 2” will all go into production next, and Feige also revealed there are two other projects as yet unannounced. "In a week and a half we start filming 'Iron Man 3'…by the end of the summer we'll be working on the next 'Thor' film, early next year the next 'Captain America' film. Those are the three that we've announced so far, but we've got two beyond that we haven't announced yet that we're working on," he said.
As enthusiastic as fans are for a sequel, neither of these will be a follow-up to “The Avengers,” so that leaves quite a bit of speculation as to which Marvel characters will be getting the big-screen treatment. Edgar Wright has been teasing an adaptation of “Ant-Man” for years, but with hisPegg/Frost collab “The World's End” thankfully set to film this year, and his Johnny Depp-starring “The Night Stalker” also in the works, it could end up being too much to handle. On the other hand, Wright has tweeted hints that the project has grown close to a reality, while Feige has acknowledged the situation publicly as such, so don't be surprised if Wright is involved in one of those two announcements. Alternatively, since Marvel now has an audience eager to see where they take them next, they could take the opportunity to stress one of their stranger, lesser-known properties, such as Guardians of the Galaxy or Inhumans. Also in development that we shouldn't count out, "Iron Fist," "Black Panther, "Dr. Strange" and even Peter Sollett's "Runaways" (though if that one has been scuttled for good, we're not sure, last we heard it was "on hold").
As for the other Marvel properties currently setting up shop at other studios i.e. “Spider-Man” and “X-Men,” Feige noted, “as long as they are making them [with] quality, that will be good.” Perhaps he's forgotten the last two 'X-Men' offerings, but if there are to be bold new directions taken in the filmic Marvel universe, which path would you prefer?
