Kevin Feige Talks Marvel's Phase 4, What To Expect In 'Avengers 4' Trailers, And Those Jake Gyllenhaal Mysterio Reports
Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige continues his press tour, fleshing out his vision of the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This time, he talks about what to expect in Phase 4, what not to expect in the marketing for Avengers 4, and whether those Jake Gyllenhaal Mysterio reports have any credence.
What (Not) to Expect in Avengers 4 Trailers
Marvel has put themselves in a bit of a dilemma when it comes to marketing Avengers 4. Or really, marketing any movie that comes after the universe-shattering events of Avengers: Infinity War. We wondered how this would affect the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, but Feige acknowledges that Infinity War will have a significant impact on the trailers for Avengers 4.
io9 asked Feige how Marvel would market Avengers 4 after half of the superheroes from the ensemble had vanished. When asked if character like Black Panther will appear in any trailers, he said, "No. Because he's gone."
Well, there you have it. None of the "dead" characters from Avengers: Infinity War will appear in the Avengers 4 trailers. It's not an uncommon practice — in fact, Warner Bros. did it just last year when they left Henry Cavill's Superman out of all the trailers and marketing for Justice League, even urging the stars to remain tight-lipped about his return.
What to Expect in MCU Phase 4
Feige had just promised yesterday that Marvel would be "less cagey" about its secrets following the release of Avengers 4. And he's not starting a moment sooner. The Marvel chief spoke to CinemaBlend about Marvel's plans for Phase 4, which we've previously reported will go in a "cosmic" direction. But Feige tells CinemaBlend that we shouldn't make assumptions about Phase 4:
"We're holding off on specifics on all of it for all the same reasons we hold off on everything. For the most part, it's keep the surprises going. The one thing I'll say is... the mere fact that those films exist, people shouldn't take any indication that they can now guess what will happen. Let's put it that way."
What a typically cagey response. Feige is trying to temper our expectations, no doubt, but his vague hand-waving is only getting more frustrating. At least we can expect that all to end after Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019. Hopefully.
About Those Mysterious Mysterio Reports...
We previously reported that Jake Gyllenhaal is nearing a deal to play Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home, with Michael Keaton's Vulture set to return as well. But Feige revealed to ComicBook.com that Gyllenhaal has not yet been confirmed to appear in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel. Of course, that doesn't mean that Gyllenhaal's casting won't come through, but Feige is not ready to say it's a sure thing.
However, Feige did hint that they have already figured out "a great deal of the movie," comparing Spider-Man: Far From Home's lighter tone to Ant-Man and the Wasp:
"Much like [Ant-Man and The Wasp], there are things that people know about that movie, which is a great deal of the movie: the villain of the movie, the storyline of the film, that we're shooting in Europe and that Peter Parker goes on continuing [after Captain America: Civil War] was a big giant super hero class movie. The fall out of that in Homecoming was John Hughes and him going to his high school. So that's what's fun to us about the Spider-Man movies. And again going from Infinity War to Ant-Man and the Wasp, the tonal shift."
Spider-Man: Far From Home will start production early next month in London.