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Marvel’s Kevin Feige discusses Spider-Man and MCU plans

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Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige always get us excited about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and he didn’t disappoint at a Q&A session to promote the US Blu-ray release of Avengers: Age Of Ultron on Tuesday night.

Happily covering a few topics, he was particularly excited about the return of a certain web-slinger:

“Making that agreement… was great, and was really amazing, and on a personal level making these movies, it means a lot because I think we can do great things with Spider-Man.”

“I think Spider-Man can serve great purpose in our universe and that’s where he belongs. What was unique about him in the comics was not that he was the only superhero in the world; it’s that he was a totally different kind of superhero when compared against all the other ones in the Marvel universe at the time.”

Asked how they were planning on incorporating ‘ol’ web-head’ into the MCU at this relatively late stage, Feige remarked “it’s not about when you show up, it’s about what you do once you’re there,” before explaining the team had been making plans for a while:

“This has been a dream of ours for a long time. We always had contingency plans, which we always do anyway. Are we going to be able to make another deal with this actor? If so, we’re going to do this; if not, we’re going to do this. If we get the rights to a certain character, that’s great; we’re going to do this. If not, we’re going to do this. We always sort of operate under those various alternate timelines available and ready to shift if something happens.”

“The most important thing as a standalone is relaunching Spider-Man in his own standalone movie with his own storylines that fits into this universe. That is job number one for us. The connectivity is great, but it doesn’t drive the train.”

With Spider-Man making his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, a film already packed full of big-named characters, there have been concerns that it might be a little over-crowded. No such worries for Feige:

“There were a lot of characters in The Winter Soldier, but it felt like a very singular and relatively simple thriller. Civil War follows in that same way. I think that’s something [directors Joe and Anthony Russo] pride themselves on, and our screenwriters Chris Markus and Steve McFeely are excellent at giving each character just enough. They’re not full arcs for everybody; it’s just enough that their presence is felt and important, but that the very clear single story that is being told is being served at all times.”

FZ-14338_RDespite Civil War seeming rather more packed than Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, it’s reassuring to hear the Marvel bigwigs confidence in his team. Moving forward though, it seems as though big changes to the Avengers line-ups are inevitable. With certain star-names’ contracts ending after Avengers: Infinity War and an ever-increasing roster of heroes, Feige was comfortable confirming changes are coming:

“I think it definitely is an end to some version of the team that we’ve come to know as The Avengers. Who knows exactly what is going to happen yet in that film, but I think this version of that team – and I think we start to hint at it at the end of Age of Ultron – will be evolving.”

That’s not to say everything is set in stone yet though…

“One of the things we love from the comics is that the roster is always changing and new people are coming onto the team, and you can pick up an Avengers book ten years later and you don’t recognise the people on the cover. But the ideas and ideals and things that make the Avengers the Avengers still exist, and I think that’s part of what this culmination will be. We’re seeing this version of the team doing this thing to save the universe, the galaxy, however you want to put it, and we’ll kind of see where that goes. It’s not the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I think that it is the end of part of it for sure. We’re still trying to sort out that point.”

As a big fan of all things Marvel this is all interesting stuff, giving us plenty to mull over before the next MCU outing. We shouldn’t have to wait too long for more information though, Captain America: Civil War hits UK cinemas on 29th April 2016 so we’ll keep you posted on any future MCU news here at THN.

Source: IGN / Empire

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