Iron Man 4, Hulk, Inhumans, Runaways, Black Panther in Development

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has officially confirmed that the studio is developing Iron Man 4 and an Incredible Hulk solo film for the first time, in a new interview with EW. Reiterating that Iron Man could go the James Bond route of recasting if necessary, Feige admitted that the studio is in talks with Downy at present. Other titles being discussed for Marvel Studios' "Phase III" plans include The Inhumans, Black Panther and Doctor Strange (which we already knew), as well as Ant-Man, which will begin filming soon for a 2015 release. A number of other projects are also in various stages of early development and, of course, there's Marvel Zombies--something that Feige has mentioned in the past. But how likely is that, really? "We started working with Edgar on that movie right in the dawn of us becoming our own studio," Feige said of Ant-Man. "It goes back so long you maybe even remember our 2006 appearance at Comic-Con. Edgar was on that panel talking about Ant-Man. And it had been a few years [of planning] at that point." "I would love Strange to be a part of that only because he's a great character. He's a great standalone character," Feige said, indicating that the character is a favorite to take on a solo film in Phase III (although it sounds as though it's not yet official). "He's got a great origin story, for the most part. And that world of pure magic, we haven't done yet. There's a whole supernatural/magic alternate dimension going on in the Marvel comics that we haven't ever touched on. So I think that's exciting." He also confirmed rumors started a few weeks ago that Ghost Rider's rights are back with Marvel. "Punisher, Ghost Rider, … Blade, all those characters are back," Feige told EW. "They all have potential, but I think we need to find the right time." Feige took the opportunity to confirm that they're developing a Hulk solo film--but it isn't the rumored Planet Hulk film. "What we're excited about exploring and expanding is Mark [Ruffalo] — and Banner's not in Planet Hulk at all," he said. "The fun of the Hulk is his interaction with humans." He added, "Mark could stand in his own movie. … We're talking about it. We're excited to sit down and go, 'What is a stand-alone Hulk movie?'" The Inhumans, meanwhile, will come along eventually--and was almost a Phase II film--but the studio is a bit skittish about doing it too close to another unproven property like Guardians of the Galaxy and are (like Hulk) trying to find a take that works for the biggest possible audience. "In other words, all the craziness that comes with Inhumans, we've done in the other movies already," Feige said. "But this would have some of the social drama that we haven't really done yet. [Fox's] X-Men, obviously, has been touching on that stuff for a while."

"It's a matter of where it fits," Feige told EW of Runaways. "The way the business is working now, you either have really inexpensive, sort of surprise movies that can come out and be hits, but don't cost much. Or you have the big giant summer blockbusters that really swing for the fences. Right now, we're just swinging for the fences every time. Runaways sort of falls in between those, in a way. We just haven't found where or how to do it… right now." The most unlikely property, of course (and one that doesn't fit well into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but could be a fun standalone film) is Marvel Zombies. In the case of the Entertainment Weekly interview, it was the interviewer who brought the film up first, although Feige has mentioned it in passing in the past. Feige effectively nixed the idea this time around, though, saying that "Zombies is such a funny thing because its such a cool comic and it's such a cool idea, but the bigger profile becomes what starts to happen [with fans]. Are you going to draw figures in chalk with your 3-year-old with Hulk eating someone? Or Captain America with his brains coming out of the top of his head? Probably not."