Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is doing the rounds to promote Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and that means we have some updates about the MCU's future.
Josh Horowitz asked the executive about Adam Driver potentially joining the MCU amid rumours the Star Wars actor is playing Mister Sinister in the upcoming X-Men reboot. While those claims weren't put directly to Feige, Driver is someone he says has been on Marvel's radar for some time.
"Many, many, many [conversations]. It's no secret that we'd like to, but it's a tradition to Zoom with him, and then he passes," Feige said of the actor who you may recall was reported to have turned down playing The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Reed Richards. "That's a long-lived tradition. It couldn't be any more cordial. He's usually upfront about how he's feeling."
Later, He was asked about Ryan Gosling and Cynthia Erivo publicly stating that they would like to play Ghost Rider and Storm, respectively. Asked by Horowitz why they haven't been cast already, Feige replied, "You never know what the future may bring. Both very good actors and great characters."
The long-delayed Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali also came up. The movie was first announced at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Since then, it's been through multiple creative teams, and for whatever reason, Marvel Studios has been unable to figure out the movie.
"I'm feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine," Feige started, "and like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn't get off the ground with Mahershala."
While his comments were (mostly) made in jest, it's hard to imagine he doesn't feel some embarrassment that Marvel Studios has squandered an R-rated horror franchise with an enthusiastic Oscar winner attached. Perhaps an update is heading our way at Comic-Con this Sunday?
Feige also confirmed that Avengers: Secret Wars is not being split in two and said Marvel has "not necessarily" cast any of the X-Men reboot's leads yet.
As for whether an MCU reboot is on the horizon, he replied, "No, but I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling. After both Secret Wars, but particularly the Hickman Secret Wars, there's a nice roadmap to where we can go."
After the 2015 storyline, the Marvel Universe remained largely the same, albeit with a few key changes. Miles Morales, for example, was moved to Earth-616, so Feige is likely referring to the X-Men and Fantastic Four finally joining the Avengers on the new "Sacred Timeline" in the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU.
There have been rumours about the Fantastic Four remaining on Earth-828 and the Multiverse living on in some form, but it's hard to imagine the studios squandering the chance to have all these characters in the same space.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.