“I think it’s a little early to know what it’s going to look like. I think things are going to look very different at that point, but I think the early discussions we’ve had with James [Gunn] about [Guardians of the Galaxy] Vol. 3 and beyond with what we’ll call the ‘Cosmic Universe’ and the Guardian characters is very exciting. Which is why he signed up and we announced that even before Guardians Vol. 2 came out.”
To catch you up to speed on what Feige is talking about, James Gunn announced he is writing and directing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and likely sticking around the COSMIC side of the MCU for ten years to come. It sounds more or less that James Gunn will be the “Kevin Feige” of the Marvel Cinematic COSMIC Universe.
Regarding what Marvel COSMIC movies and characters we could see as part of Marvel’s Phase 4, in addition to Guardians of the Galaxy 3, James Gunn hinted at the inclusion of one of his favorite characters, Adam Warlock.
Richard Rider Nova is on the top of every Marvel COSMIC fan’s list for Phase 4, and the former Marvel Comics editor on the 2007 Richard Rider Nova series, Bill Rosemann, recently credited Richard Rider Nova and the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy fans for the reason Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie ever got made. Those two titles are actually the reason I put together this entire site. Let’s hope Gunn comes through for us fans.
It would be pretty awesome if Marvel Studios and James Gunn could put together some sort of adaptation of Annihilation, which saw the Negative Zone invade the Marvel Universe. Obviously some kind of deal would have to be made with Fox Studios, who owns some of the characters used in Annihilation (Annihilus, Silver Surfer, Galactus), but a deal has been made before between the two companies (Ego and Negasonic Teenage Warhead), so keep your fingers crossed.
Just think, much like the Abnett and Lanning Marvel COSMIC comics, Gunn could have his own Marvel COSMIC Universe of movies that would be separate from The Avengers movies, which would give Gunn a bit of freedom, just like his Guardians of the Galaxy films.
Similar to how the regular MCU builds up to its big Avengers movies, Gunn could have the COSMIC MCU build up to its own big “Annihilation” event movies!
Sounds awesome!