The Big Picture

Deadpool & Wolverine
marks a new era for Marvel Studios, promising an epic superhero team-up with a star-studded cast.
The film’s emotional core lies in the bond between Deadpool and Wolverine, and the formidable new villain, Cassandra Nova.
Marvel’s future plans are ever-evolving, with exciting potential crossovers and storylines to come in the MCU.

With the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel is gearing up for an iconic crossover event as Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) reunite once again, this time as part of the MCU. The superhero team-up movie will see Deadpool recruited by the Time Variance Authority’s Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden), before teaming up with Wolverine to save the only family he has, but not before running afoul of Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), a villain who is Charles Xavier’s twin, but also his opposite in every way.

In a new one-on-one interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige sat down to talk about the upcoming superhero movie, but also tease Marvel’s plans for San Diego Comic-Con. He also revealed that more Special Presentations in the vein of Werewolf By Night are currently in development and whether Marvel and DC will ever team up.

Deadpool & Wolverine Wolverine joins the “merc with a mouth” in the third installment of the Deadpool film franchise.Release Date July 26, 2024 Writers Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza , Paul Wernick , Wendy Molyneux , Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin Studio Marvel Studios Expand

COLLIDER: I just want to say that it is pretty crazy; I did a set visit on Iron Man back in the day, the first one, and I remember you talking about the dream. The first three Marvel movies needed to make money, or it was game over for the entire company, and where you are now, it’s incredible.

KEVIN FEIGE: It is. It’s incredible we’ve been together that long, Steve. Wow!

The fact that I’m still doing this, you know what I mean? I could say on camera so many stories from those early set visits, but I got a lot of questions.

What Will the Deadpool Comic-Con Panel Be About?

A lot of people are wondering, with the Deadpool panel Thursday night at Comic-Con in Hall H, is there any possibility you would screen the entire film that night?

FEIGE: This is a Hall H panel called [The Ultimate Deadpool and Wolverine] Celebration of Life. Why is it called the Celebration of Life, you ask? Because Ryan thought it’d be weird. It’d be funny. It is the opening day, we think people have their tickets to go see the movie, and we wanted to acknowledge that fact. Deadpool was not going to be a part of our Saturday panel, so we wanted to have this extra panel so people could see the cast before they go see the movie.

Got it. Every Marvel movie obviously has spoilers in it, and some are larger than others. How would you rank Deadpool & Wolverine in terms of the level of stuff that’s gonna happen that might affect the MCU spoilers versus some of the other Marvel movies?

FEIGE: I don’t know what the criteria is, or what the levels are that you’re talking about. I will say there’s lots of stuff that happens in it. The most important things that happen in it happen between the characters, and that’s what the whole movie is about—that emotional journey between the two of them and some friends they meet along the way.

Is Cassandra Nova the Next Thanos?
Image via Marvel Studios

Cassandra is a character that many people have been waiting to see. Cassandra could be a Thanos-level character in terms of power. What is that character’s power level, if you will, compared to some of the other characters?

FEIGE: She is extremely powerful. When we meet her in this movie, I’m not sure she’s ever encountered anybody that she couldn’t swat away. She, as you say, is very, very powerful.

The future of Ryan and Hugh in the MCU, do you even know what might happen with them in the future, or is it sort of like “Let’s get through this and then…?”

FEIGE: It’s definitely, “Let’s get through this.” But as we sit here talking, and the movie comes out in a week, and the movie’s been finished for a couple of weeks, there’s certainly been a lot of discussions of, “That was fun. What should we do next?”

Marvel Is Cooking Up More Special Presentations Like ‘Werewolf by Night’

Werewolf by Night and the Guardians [of the Galaxy] special—I love these special presentations, and all the fans did as well. What do we need to do to get more special presentations?

FEIGE: There will be more. You just have to wait.

Are you actually actively in development on one right now?

FEIGE: Yes.

More than one?

FEIGE: Just one right now.

Is it next year?

FEIGE: No.

Okay, so it’s something in the future.

FEIGE: Yes.

Related ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’: James Gunn Reveals How Nebula Got Bucky’s Arm The holiday special starred Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, and more.

Something I’ve heard rumors about for a long time, and I’ve been waiting to ask you about, is a lot of the contracts for Fox characters with Marvel expire in 2025, and that was one of the reasons why we were waiting a little while to get mutants and other characters. Is there any truth to that?

FEIGE: Actor contracts?

No, producer contracts. I’d heard a lot of people were attached to things, and contracts expire in 2025.

FEIGE: No, I don’t even know all the contracts. There are people who are attached for much longer than 2025, and will be a part of them. But I don’t think that was any magic year.

How Has the MCU Changed Since 2020?
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

What have the last few years done to impact Marvel’s future? How have plans changed as a result of the last few years, or have they not changed, and everything is still status the way it was?

FEIGE: I think they’ve changed. The release cadence has changed because of the pandemic and because of the strike. Deadpool & Wolverine being our only movie this year was never initially the plan, and I think that ended up working out pretty well. I like the notion of all of this attention being on one movie and a movie that’s gonna be able to carry that attention because it’s quite good.

I’ve said that building a fictional narrative, whether it’s been in the comics over 85 years or in the MCU over the last 17 years, is a living, breathing, evolving thing. I love the idea that people think we have a plan that is set in granite, and then we just follow it. We have a plan that’s set in sand, and then we modify it.

Related Which Marvel Characters From the Comics Should Join the MCU? Despite not quite soaring to the heights of the Infinity War era, the MCU is showing no signs of slowing down as Marvel boss Kevin Feige prepares to drop several major announcements next weekend at SDCC. While on the press tour for Deadpool & Wolverine, Feige revealed that Richard Rider aka Nova is finally coming to the MCU with his own TV series. Between this new addition, Wolverine himself, and the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, I want to know which Marvel comics characters — that we haven’t seen on screen yet — are you dying to see join the MCU?

Do you have the next four years figured out at this point, or is it still very much, “We’re figuring it out?”

FEIGE: We have our hopes and dreams for the next five years figured out, and we will adapt as reality adapts us. But with the X-Men and with the Fantastic Four, and with all those thousands of characters we got from Fox, that really did help us chart out, with excitement and enthusiasm, decades of potential blue sky ideas of what we could do. And the response to X-Men ‘97, which the Marvel animation team did such a great job on, only reinvigorated us. The X-Men soap opera has been done very well in certain movies in the past, but we really think it’s an untapped reservoir of amazing emotional stories.

Will Marvel and DC Ever Cross Over?

I know this is a long shot, but James Gunn’s at DC. You guys are obviously very good friends. The dream for a lot of people is wondering, “Will DC and Marvel ever do something together?” Is that even something that you are thinking about, or are you like, “There is no chance?”

FEIGE: I think about it occasionally, like any fan would think about it. I don’t know when in the heck that would ever happen, or how that would happen. But we’ve been talking too long for me to go, “Never! We’d never be able to do that.” We’ll never say never, but no, no plans. I’ve seen the paparazzi shots of the Superman set looking cool. So he’s focusing on that. We’re focusing on this.

Related James Gunn Reveals Yet Another Important ‘Superman’ Logo ‘Superman’ flies into theaters in 2025.

What’s the Status of ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’?

The next Avengers movie was called The Kang Dynasty. Is there any chance that that’s changing to a two-part Secret Wars movie?

FEIGE: There is a chance. There are a lot of chances. There’s a chance that we change it to a five-part… No. [Laughs]

[Laughs] That’s not happening.

FEIGE: [Laughs] Anything’s possible!

Right. I am curious, though, if that title is gonna change, and if it might be a two-part Secret Wars.

FEIGE: If there were an event coming up soon where we could talk about these kinds of things, that would be good. That would be cool.

Related Are The Fantastic Four Coming to San Diego Comic Con? SDCC 2024 begins on July 25.

So you’re trying to say to me that at Hall H at Comic-Con, Saturday night at six o’clock, there could be the chance of a new announcement about an Avengers movie being called something other than The Kang Dynasty.

FEIGE: There’s always a chance, Steve. We’ll really be focusing on the next movies coming out there.

Deadpool Prime Reigns Supreme

There are a lot of cool versions of Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine. What is your personal favorite version of Deadpool in the film?

FEIGE: It’s Deadpool Prime. Ryan Reynolds, the main Deadpool, is my favorite. They all look very cool. Headpool, in particular, is ridiculous and looks awesome.

Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26.

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