Switching up the flow of news from the upcoming Doctor Strange movie, Kevin Feige has dropped some more (guarded) info on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Phase Three of their leviathan-esque franchise kicking off in 2016, Feige and company gave waiting fans what they can in way of news during a recent interview with Empire.
Among the topics discussed were Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, the recently acquired character of Spider-Man and — by no shall we forget — the Black Panther!
On Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, sequel to 2014’s summer blockbuster hit, Feige had this for us about the different iterations of the galaxy’s most uncoath team of ‘kinda-sorta’ superheroes;
“There’ve been many different incarnations of the Guardians over the years in the comics and we’ll catch a glimpse of additions over the course of the movie.”
About Thanos, the Marvel franchise’s looming villain who will undoubtedly go against the team (whichever incarnation that may be), Feige says;
“I wouldn’t look too hard in that movie for Thanos. The next time we see Thanos he will not be messing around. It will be, ‘Oh, that’s why they’ve been teasing this villain for five years!”
From cosmic threats down to the street level, Feige offered a word or two on the status of 
our friendly neighborhood web-head as well, and his stake in the broader MCU.
“Smaller scale is all relative….”, says Feige. “It’s going to be as big and spectacular a Spider-Man film as has ever been made. But it’s a Peter Parker story and has more opportunity to be focused on the story of a 15-year-old kid going to high school.”
From high school to the halls of Asgard, Feige went on to talk about what we may (or may not) expect from the upcoming Thor sequel, Ragnarok.
“I don’t think people will read into that title alone [regarding] what the movie’s going to be. It’s going to be, perhaps, as totally different from the two prior Thor movies as Winter Soldier was from the first Captain America. We want to take it to new places, we’ve got new characters that will show how big we’re swinging on this. And we have a Hulk… The film takes place within the cosmos primarily, which is to say, frankly, very little Earth.”
Ragnarok was previously alluded to in Avengers: Age of Ultron and — judging from the tone of the scene — the third Thor film hints of a particularly dire situation for our thunder god and his Asgardian brethren.
And last — yet certainly not least — Feige talked about the upcoming, increasingly anticipated, Black Panther film, its cast, as well as its connection to the MCU.
“This one is important,” Feige says “It’s a big geo-political action adventure that focuses on the family and royal struggle of T’Challa in Wakanda, and what is means to be a king. T’Challa’s story is very important to us as it links to the next Avengers films, which is why we brought it forward.”
Currently, Phase Three of the MCU will consist of; Captain America: Civil War, which will be released on May 6, 2016. Doctor Strange, slated for release on November 4, 2016, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 on May 5, 2017, the yet untitled Spider-Man film on July 28, 2017, Thor:Ragnarok is scheduled for release on November 3, 2017, with Black Panther following suit on February 6, 2018.
All this leads up to the Avengers: Infinity War Part I on May 4, 2018, followed by Ant-Man & Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Infinity War Part II on May 3, 2019 and *shakes exhausted fingers* Marvel’s The Inhumans on July 12, 2019.
ALL this…with yet three more untitled Marvel film project set for May 1, 2020, July 10, 2020, and November 6, 2020. It indeed will be a busy time for the studio and comic film nerds alike.
And while all this takes shape, be sure to stay plugged in to SE’s Comic Nook News as it all develops.