Kevin Feige Calls Disney+ Marvel Shows 'A Totally New Form Of Storytelling', Shares 'X-Men' Excitement, And Promises Not To Censor Deadpool
Kevin Feige is a busy guy, but he still always takes the time to talk to reporters and give them incredibly vague details about the future of Marvel Studios. With Avengers: Endgame on the horizon, the Fox-Disney deal finalized, and Disney's streaming service Disney+ already making headlines months before launch, the Marvel Studios president provided some info on what fans can expect in the months and years to come, including details about Disney+ Marvel shows, X-Men, Deadpool and more.
Disney+
During Disney's huge Disney+ presentation last week, the House of Mouse dropped some knowledge regarding their Marvel shows – WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. "It's the first long-form narrative that Marvel Studios has done — they'll be six episodes, eight episodes, 10 episodes with the actors from the films playing their characters," Feige says in a new interview with Variety. "They'll be changing, evolving, growing in those event series and then those changes will be reflected in their next film appearances."
Feige adds: "These episodes will intersect with the movies in a very big way. It's a totally new form of storytelling that we get to play with and explore."
In truth, this sounds like a short-form version of what Marvel has been doing with their films, but that's fine.
The fact that Marvel was able to convince the actors from their films – Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Hiddelston, and so on – to jump to the streaming shows is a big boon for the studio. "I think it's a testament to the quality of streaming and to the way things are changing that many of our actors are totally into it and are totally excited by it," Feige says in the interview, adding that he prepared a lengthy speech on convincing the actors to join to the streaming shows, only to realize he didn't need it.
X-Men
Thanks to the Disney-Fox deal, Marvel Studios now has full-access to the X-Men, and several other Marvel characters previously housed at Fox. Feige has already commented in the past that you won't see the likes of the X-Men or Fantastic Four in Marvel Studios films for a while, but adds in this new interview that he and his team are happy to finally have control over the characters. "The specifics of what it means remains to be seen, but overall it's wonderful and it feels like these characters have come home," Feige says, going on to add:
"We spent 12 years at Marvel Studios really embracing and digging into all the stories of characters who had never been brought to the screen before, but there would be times when we'd have a supporting player or a reference point or something for a movie and legal would go, 'don't forget that characters on that other list you don't have access to it.' It will be nice to not have to do that."
In the meantime, if you're anxious for some X-Men action not directly connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you could go see Dark Phoenix on June 7! Or you could skip it entirely, because it looks quite bad.
Deadpool
What of that rapscallion Deadpool? Will his saucy, potty-mouthed antics be too naughty for Disney? Disney's Bob Iger has already commented that there are no plans to censor Deadpool, and Feige parrots that in this interview: "When we were purchased, Bob said to us, 'if it's not broke, don't fix it.' There's no question that Deadpool is working, so why would we change it?" So everyone can calm down: Deadpool will still get to say "fuck" a lot.
Will this open the door to even more R-rated Marvel Studios titles? Feige doesn't give any specifics, stating only that it "remains to be seen."
Endgame Emotions
Every MCU film in recent memory has been touted as a big event, but Avengers: Endgame, which opens April 26, is a very special case. The movie is the apex of every single Marvel Studios film that came before, bringing several character arcs to a close, and presumably ushering in an entirely new era for the studio. That's the type of scenario that's bound to dredge up more than a few emotions for the people involved. "Almost everything about Endgame has been emotional," says Feige. "It's happened with each of the actors on their last day of filming. It's happened as we've screened the movies. It's happened as we play back reels in visual effects."
So what does Feige hope we, the viewing public, take away from all of this? That same emotion."I can only hope it is as emotional for moviegoers and for our fans as it has been for us," he says.