Kevin Feige Discusses Deadpool, Wolverine, Blade, and the MCU

ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim recently interviewed Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and the primary producer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Feige discussed the multiverse, the upcoming Blade movie, breaking the fourth wall, and the first movie he watched on Disney+.

Feige is also producing Deadpool & Wolverine, set to release on July 26. “Wolverine is recovering from his injuries when he crosses paths with the loudmouth Deadpool,” reads the official synopsis. “They team up to defeat a common enemy.”

Jonathan Sim asked about the Multiverse Saga of the MCU and why the multiverse is such a fun storytelling tool.

Feige explained, “For us, it’s the ability to bring characters together that you may never have thought you could ever see together. Great examples of that are Tobey [Maguire], Andrew [Garfield], and Tom [Holland] in Spider-Man No Way Home. In this one, it’s seeing Deadpool, who’s been at the top of his game, and Wolverine, who died a number of movies ago. It’s only thanks to the amazing storytelling tool of parallel realities and timelines that we could do that.”

Feige continued, “When people see the movie, the storytellers, Ryan [Reynolds] and Shawn [Levy], have made great efforts to be very respectful of how to do that and very humorous in how to bring that about.”

Sim then mentioned how Deadpool and She-Hulk break the fourth wall and poke fun at the MCU, asking Feige if he signs off on all these jokes and if there’s a line they can’t cross.

Feige laughed, “They make fun of me?”

“A little bit. In She-Hulk, right?” Sim replied.

Feige responded, “I haven’t seen it. [Laughs] But yes, Marvel Comics, our movies, and our own personalities, many of us in Marvel Studios, are very self-deprecating. Deadpool makes fun of Ryan Reynolds as much as he makes fun of anybody else. Being a part of that is fun and meaningful, and yes, we do it all in lockstep together.”

Sim then brought up that Deadpool & Wolverine is the first MCU movie to be rated R and asked if there are other projects where they might go down the R-rated path.

Feige noted, “Deadpool is rated R because it has to be. The first two movies were rated R, and that is the tonality that Ryan has brought to life. To do anything else wouldn’t fulfill the character or story. We’ve never thought about making any previous MCU movies R-rated.”

However, Feige did mention the Blade movie. “We’ve been working on a Blade movie for a long time, and we won’t start that movie until we’ve got it exactly right. Those movies were R-rated, and it does seem like that is part of what is inherent about the Blade character. So that’s an R-rated movie we’re developing as well. Where appropriate, we’ll certainly do that.”

Sim asked for a status update on the Blade project.

Feige said, “We’re taking the amount of time it needs. Eric Pearson, a great writer, is working on a draft right now. But we won’t get too excited until it’s really all there because Blade’s a very important character. Mahershala [Ali] is an amazing actor who walked in one day and said, ‘I think I wanna be Blade.’ And we want to find the right way to do that.”

Sim then asked Feige which upcoming MCU project he’s most excited for audiences to experience.

Feige replied, “Can I say Deadpool & Wolverine?”

Sim agreed, noting the film will bring together fans of the Avengers and X-Men. He remarked on Marvel Studios’ reputation for being secretive and asked which film was the hardest to keep under wraps.

Feige said, “Every movie. It’s very hard and almost impossible nowadays. The only reason we want to keep secrets is to maintain surprises. But if the moment works in the movie, people who have read things online or made predictions will still experience it fresh when the lights go down in the theater.”

Feige is also excited to be surprised by Deadpool & Wolverine, noting that there’s not much he knows about it.

Sim then asked about Feige’s go-to Marvel project on Disney+.

Feige shared, “The first thing I ever turned on when Disney+ launched was The Black Hole, an early ’80s sci-fi movie. I spend all day at work looking at Marvel projects, so when I go home and turn on Disney+, I watch the new stuff that I haven’t worked on.”

Source: ComingSoon