Marvel Boss Kevin Feige On ‘Fantastic Four’ Wrap Date, ‘X-Men’ & “Goosebumps” Moment Filming ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ — Disney APAC Showcase
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige can hardly wait for the Fantastic Four’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the X-Men’s future involvement.
Feige made a live virtual appearance at the opening of the Disney APAC Content Showcase, held in Singapore, and talked up the future of the MCU ahead of The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ release next year. Appearing onscreen at the showcase wearing a blue Fantastic Four cap, he pointed at the hat when asked which Marvel title he was most excited for in 2025.
More from Deadline
“Finally, [we’re] bringing Marvel’s First Family into the MCU,” said Feige about the long-in-the-works project. “They wrap next week, the movie comes out next summer, and then all those characters go right into the next Avengers movies, so I’m very excited for the future of the Fantastic Four.”
The film stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner and others in an ensemble cast. It will start Phase Six of the MCU, with Feige producing. A Fantastic Four reboot has been in the works since at least 2017 and the current iteration has been in production for most of 2024.
Feiged said that Thunderbolts*, set to premiere in May 2025, is “what Marvel is all about.” The film stars the likes of Florence Pugh ads Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes and David Harbour as Red Guardian, who form an antihero group who perform missions from the U.S. government.
“It’s taking characters from all different types of places and franchises and putting them together,” he said. “That’s what the Avengers is, that’s what Guardians of the Galaxy is.”
On bringing the X-Men into the MCU, Feige said: “I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back.”
Commenting on Deadpool & Wolverine, Feige said of Hugh Jackman’s role in the box office smash: “When we first started working on the film for the first time, we wanted to see Wolverine in a yellow costume. I had goosebumps on set when he walked out wearing that costume and put on that mask for the first time. I’ve been waiting 25 years to bring that to life.”
He added: “We were very excited to see Ryan Reynolds bring the R rating to Disney. It was fun — the heart and the humor.”
Disney’s two-day APAC showcase is highlighting the company’s 2025-2026 theatrical and streaming slate across Disney, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios portfolios, including titles from Korea and Japan. Feige was keen to talk up Asia’s importance to Marvel.
“The future of Marvel in Asia is the future of Marvel in general,” he said. “At Marvel Animation, we have some amazing shows, like the hit X-Men ’97, [and] we have a new Spider-Man animated series called The Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man, for which we are partnering with great animation studios in Japan and Korea.
“People may know I’m a huge Disney parks fan, and some of the best Disney parks are in Asia. Next year, we’ve got a Spider-Man attraction coming to Shanghai Disneyland and an Avengers attraction coming to Hong Kong Disneyland.”
He noted that Marvel Comics has been “influenced by manga and webtoons,” and pointed to upcoming title Deadpool: Samurai.
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
