Kevin Feige: "never say never" to a Marvel and DC crossover

Kevin Feige

Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, recently hinted that there is a possibility of a crossover between Marvel and DC. This may come as a surprise to fans of either or both franchises. After all, the two companies, despite totally different approaches to productions, have had recent successes, with Marvel Studios releasing Black Widow in July and DC / Warner Bros. releasing The Suicide Squad to theaters just a few weeks ago. >

Marvel and DC crossover? A few words, but important

A crossover between the two giants of the comic industry would be an epic and memorable event for history. Fans have been wanting to see some sort of connection between the two for some time, but on a structural and logistical level there are many things to consider. First and foremost, Marvel Studios have been building their own cinematic universe since Iron Man, and it has been a huge gradual success for both them and Disney. Meanwhile, on the contrary, DC has built its own confusing cinematic universe, with films that crisscross each other with Elseworld interludes, such as Joker (which you can retrieve on Amazon).

Some time ago James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy and the latest The Suicide Squad, had stated that he was interested in a possible crossover between the two universes. Kevin Faige's words, during an interview with ComicBook.com, however, are much more important because they show that there could be something really concrete in the pipeline:

"Well, look, my standard answer to things is 'never say never'. I never thought we would get this far. We haven't talked to James [Gunn] about it because he's currently immersed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will begin filming before the end of this year. After finishing the spectacular The Suicide Squad, he is well on his way to preparing for Guardians 3 ”.

Feige is known to say very little about projects involving the MCU and other potential crossovers, so it's no surprise he hasn't said much more about this bold idea. “Never say never”, however, is a great opening towards a possible future crossover. Furthermore, the explicit mention of James Gunn shows that there could potentially be some interest in him given his renowned ability to tell these kinds of stories. Finally, the director would be interested in a possible crossover between Harley Quinn and Groot. We just have to wait for more details.

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Kevin Feige gave us the first hint at Marvel’s ‘Avengers 5’ release date time frame

Marvel announced 14 Phase 4 titles in late July 2019, right after the Infinity Saga had ended. That was a massive number of new MCU adventures and great news for fans of the Cinematic Universe. It was also the first time Marvel announced the inclusion of Disney Plus TV shows in the MCU. Despite all those new movies and TV series, the event had no Avengers 5 announcement. Marvel didn’t even mention Spider-Man 3 during the event — we would later learn of Disney’s fight with Sony over Spidey. Marvel has added even more movies and TV shows to the MCU since then. But it stayed away from announcing the Avengers 5 release date we craved. Now, two years later, Marvel boss Kevin Feige teased that we shouldn’t expect another epic Avengers crossover movie anytime soon.

Why there’s no Avengers 5 movie yet

Right after Comic-Con 2019, we explained why we couldn’t have another Avengers movie so soon after Endgame. First of all, we had reached a turning point for Avengers stories. There was no way for Marvel to top Endgame, nor should the studio attempt to do it so soon. It took a decade of interconnected MCU movies to build up to Infinity War and Endgame. Now, the franchise needs a break and a reboot.

After Endgame, we lost some of our favorite heroes. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) died heroically. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) retired his broken shield, living his life in an alternate reality. The Avengers now need new leaders and team members. And we need more films and stories to grow to love them as much as the old ones.

Similarly, with Thanos (Josh Brolin) out of the picture for good, the MCU needs other dangerous villains that the fans love to hate. Not to mention all the superhero properties that Marvel inherited after the Fox acquisition. Deadpool, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men all need proper introductions before any future Avengers 5 release date can be revealed.

It already started

All the Phase 4 TV shows and movies we’ve seen so far further enriched the arcs of the remaining Avengers team members. They also introduced new characters and/or variants. We saw a few new villains emerge, including one that has the potential to be better than Thanos. More importantly, the MCU brought us a brand new element that will influence future Avengers stories: The Multiverse.

Story continues

We also need to readjust our expectations for MCU titles. Not every new movie or TV show needs to be as massive as Endgame. That includes any Avengers 5 adventure Marvel might come up with. We’ll have to reset our expectations accordingly and wait for the next Avengers crossover to evolve naturally.

Avengers 5 release date speculation

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige addressed Avengers 5 questions during an interview with Collider. Without offering an actual release date estimate for the next Avengers flick, Feige hinted that the movie isn’t coming anytime soon.

“I think we want there to be a reasonable amount of time from the Endgame to start a new saga, which is already underway and already started,” Feige said. “And then you need time, as you did in Phase 1, to build that saga before you start bringing everyone together.”

But as Collider points out, we’re no longer in Phase 1 or 2. The MCU is much richer now. We have so many different characters that each movie and TV show focuses on team-ups rather than solo adventures. That’s to say we’ll see different Avengers combinations long before we get a new Avengers movie.

Avengers 5 might get a 2025 release date at the earliest, but that’s just speculation at this point. Marvel has planned its movie calendar through 2023, and it’s not in a hurry to announce any additional titles. After all, 2020 was a lost year in terms of MCU releases. Marvel is still working through a significant backlog of films and TV shows that will keep us entertained for a few more years.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.com