The big news of the night has been the launch of the first trailer for Kenneth Branagh's Thor (if you haven't seen the trailer yet, head over here and for 100 stills captured from the video, hit this link). Following the trailer's release, The Los Angeles Times hosted a chat with Marvel Studios Chief Kevin Feige, who not only answered a lot of fans' questions, but gave multiple hints as to what we will be seeing from the studio in the future, both in terms of projects in development and beyond
Below you will find 20 quotes extracted from the chat about all of Marvel's future plans. Before reading, I should point out that he was very forthright about some questions, while a bit coy and secretive about others. My personal favorites? Edgar Wright working on the next draft of Ant-Man, the reasoning behind choosing Joss Whedon as the director for The Avengers, and that we will indeed see the wings on the side of Captain America's helmet. Read on below for more and head on over to The Los Angeles Times to read the entire chat
- "[T]he evolution you saw [Iron Man’s] armor take in IM2 will continue in The Avengers."
- Natalie Portman was the only choice to play Jane Foster in Thor
- [T]he comics is where we always start from and continue to return to for inspirations, but we make slight adjustments where we think appropriate.
- "[P]eople looking for a reference to Don Blake in the Thor film will find one."
- On possible movies after The Avengers: "I have not been shy about my love for Dr. Strange, Black Panther, and Luke Cage."
- On when we will see the first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger: "[W]orking on the Cap trailer now. You should be seeing one in the new year."
- "Punisher's back in house, and various plans are in the works."
- On the progress of Iron Fist: "[A] very talented writer is currently working on a draft"
- On keeping continuity: "[O]ur primary job is doing justice to the title characters, but we do have someone who's got a large chart that spans across his office wall tracking the continuity. It's pretty cool. Maybe we'll publish it one day."
- On more heroes being in The Avengers that we don’t know about: "[M]aybe..."
- On not using the old English dialect for Thor: "[A]s much as I love Stan the man's Shakespearean dialect, we felt it would be over-bearing. However, our director Kenneth Branagh has a great ear for the English language and I think you'll find that the Asgardian speak is appropriately regal."
- On chemistry between Jane Foster and Thor: "Natalie and Chris have amazing chemistry in the film. After an early cut, [Brian Michael] Bendis told me it was the best romantic chemistry in a Marvel movie."
- On Captain America’s helmet wings: "Cap's got the wings."
- On the possibility of seeing Marvel short films and when we might see more from Cap: "The shorts rumor was just a rumor, but we do like the idea. More Cap pics coming early next year."
- On the future of Ant-Man: "Edgar was here a few days ago. He's already working on the next draft."
- On the possibility of Moonknight making his way to the screen: "Moonknight's a challenging, but extremely interesting character. We've been discussing various versions of it for years."
- On why Joss Whedon was his choice to direct The Avengers: "He doesn't lose site of the characters no matter how big and crazy the spectacle gets."
- On Nick Fury being in World War II: "We're keeping Nick Fury as portrayed by the great Sam Jackson just in the modern era for now."
- On the future of a Black Panther movie: "Things are in the works."
- On Invaders in Captain America: "[W]hile there's no Invaders, there's lots of Howling Commandos!"
