Forget Deadpool & Wolverine, Kevin Feige Is Focused On The Fantastic Four

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is one of the most important men in Hollywood. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe had a bit of a down year in 2023 with "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" and "The Marvels" disappointing at the box office, it's still the biggest franchise in the business and he's the man at the top of the pyramid. He's got a lot to worry about, from the much-anticipated series "Daredevil: Born Again" to the seemingly cursed "Blade" movie reboot. But even Feige has his favorites and, looking at what's coming down the pipeline, he seems to be most excited about "The Fantastic Four."

Feige was recently a guest on the very first episode of "The Official Marvel Podcast," and the interview covered a range of topics. However, when asked what excites him most about the upcoming movie and TV projects in The Multiverse Saga, the executive name-checked a handful of titles before making it clear: finally bringing the Fantastic Four into the MCU stands out as something special. In his own words:

"The corporate answer is: 'They're all our babies and we love them all equally.' And I'm very excited for 'Deadpool & Wolverine' and then 'Agatha All Along' and 'Captain America Brave New World' and 'Thunderbolts' (with an asterisk) and the new 'Daredevil' –- and that's all true. But if you want the real answer, if we're trying to get real on this podcast, the answer is 'The Fantastic Four.' I'm incredibly excited for what we're doing with 'The Fantastic Four' right now and with what Matt Shakman, our director who did 'WandaVision' for us, is working on. He's already moved to London and we start filming at the end of July."

Matt Shakman of "WandaVision" fame is directing "The Fantastic Four," which is going to be a period piece set in the '60s. The primary cast includes Pedro Pascal ("The Mandalorian") as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby ("Mission: Impossible –- Fallout") as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Bear") as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things") as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. Julia Garner ("Ozark") is also on board to play the Shalla-Bal version of the Silver Surfer, while Ralph Ineson ("The Green Knight") is going to bring Galactus to life.

We've had several versions of the superhero team on screen in the past, including director Josh Trank's infamously disastrous "Fantastic Four" in 2015. But we've never seen these heroes as a team in the MCU and, given that they are known as Marvel's first family, it's a big deal that it's finally happening. Speaking a bit further, Feige revealed that they begin filming right after this year's San Diego Comic-Con, which should be full of further updates on the future of the MCU:

"Funny story, we start shooting the Monday after Comic-Con. The day after Comic-Con is the first day of filming on 'Fantastic Four.' And I'm extremely excited by it because I think those characters are mainstays, are legendary pillars of the Marvel Universe that we've never got to play with or explore in any significant way, apart from 'Multiverse of Madness' and a few fun teases before in the way that we're doing it in that film. So I'm extremely excited for that, and I'm also excited for the two 'Avengers' movies, and that'll be after 'Fantastic Four.'"

"The Fantastic Four" is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.