One of the questions I had when I heard that Marvel was going to introduce Doctor Strange as their new tent-pole hero was whether or not The Defenders might replace The Avengers over time. Well, they couldn’t use Silver Surfer because Fox refused to let him go, and Marvel head Kevin Feige just announced that the Sub Mariner is out of Marvel’s hands too.
Kevin Feige said that Marvel won’t announce any more movies until 2014, although he also said they are pretty much sure of what they want to do until 2021. However, in a recent interview with Empire magazine, Feige did drop some hints about what might and might not be seen in the future.
First of all, there is the Sub Mariner news. Questions arose about whether Namor was in Marvels hands or not, or if he was part of the Fantastic Four world at Fox. It turns out it is “none of the above.” Feige explained that it is Universal who owns the rights to Namor. The Sub Mariner movie has been in development since at least 2009 when Jonathan Mostow was attached to it.
While Feige refuses to divulge what movies are coming after Ant-Man in 2015 (he won’t even confirm Doctor Strange), he said that in Spring 2014, the Marvel team will set down and determine which characters will get movies in 2016 and 2017 – calling it a battle royal. He said there are six or seven properties they have lined up and only four will get scheduled in those two years.
However, he did say that two heroes who will get bigger roles in upcoming movies is The Hulk and Hawkeye. Feige said that Mark Ruffalo’s version of Banner is “special” and that they would love to see where they could go with his story. As for Hawkeye, his big moment will come in Avengers 2.
Kevin Feige also said Wasp will not appear in Avengers 2, so the question of when the final founding member of The Avengers makes her first appearance is still up in the air as well.
Source: Empire
