Marvel Boss Kevin Feige on Taylor Swift Rumors, Harry Styles’ Return and the Future of the MCU (Exclusive)

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has heard the rumors about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he’s not terribly concerned.

Feige told ET’s Ash Crossan at the Tuesday premiere of The Marvels that he isn’t interested in delving too far into the future when it comes to the current phase of the MCU.

“The Marvels comes out on Friday and the finale of Loki is this Thursday. Those are two giant things [right now],” the studio executive said. “Those two projects that are being unveiled to the fans within two days represents about five years of work, of about thousands and thousands of people. So, for me, that’s the focus.”

The upcoming film stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau. In typical Marvel fashion, little is known about the plot of the film beyond what’s been shown in the trailers. The film follows the trio as they face off against the main antagonist, Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton, who’s attacking all the planets they call home. To further complicate matters, an encounter with a wormhole causes the trio to start swapping powers and locations at random.

As with all MCU properties, The Marvels — directed by Nia DaCosta — is a culmination of many stories; the Secret Invasion finale also set up some details for The Marvels, as a begrudging new human-Skrull alliance was formed between MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) and G’iah (Emilia Clarke), the daughter of Nick Fury’s late friend, Talos. (And don’t forget, the first Captain Marvel movie showed us that Monica and G’iah were pals back in the day!)

We also saw Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) headed back to space alongside his wife, Priscilla (Charlayne Woodard), who now goes by her Skrull birth name, Varra, as the Kree are apparently open to peace talks — though Dar-Benn’s vendetta seems to call that into question.

Feige notes that the far-reaching storytelling of the film, and the franchise in general, is “part of the fun” that he hopes fans focus on more than what everything could mean.

He says, “I mean, everything is a building block in the broader story — that’s just part of the fun. But really it’s the fun of the movie. The movie has a beginning, middle, and an end. And what Nia has worked on for so long, for so hard with Brie and with Teyonah and with Iman, represents years of very hard work. And it’s this experience and the fun of this movie that I want people to focus on.”

Of course, there are possibilities that The Marvels could lead to something that Feige has been vocally excited for, the eventual introduction of more mutants — specifically the X-Men — after the reveal at the end of the Vellani-led Disney+ series, Ms. Marvel. 

“The X-Men are a solid and rich and great concept… The return of the animated series [X-Men ’97] next year — which we’re very excited about and I saw some new final episodes today which really bring you back to that core of who the X-Men are and that soap opera that those characters represent,” Feige gushes to ET.

And when it comes to seeing those superpowered beings in live-action?

“People will see. Perhaps soon,” the Marvel executive teases.

When it comes to the celebrity cameos that Marvel has become so accomplished at, Feige plays coy about what’s to come. After Harry Styles stunned fans with his appearance in the Eternals post-credits scene, the studio head says anything is possible in regard to his return.

“He’s excited, we’re excited, [so] we will see,” Feige says of the GRAMMY-winning pop star. And of the rumors that Taylor Swift could appear in Deadpool 3 as the mutant Dazzler? Feige simply laughs.

Fans will have to wait to see what the future holds for the MCU. In the meantime, they can get “higher, further, faster” when The Marvels flies into theaters on Nov. 10.

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