With Avengers: Endgame out in the world and Spider-Man: Far From Home about to wrap up the third "phase" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, studio boss Kevin Feige took to Reddit to answer questions from fans and site users about the future. And while he naturally didn't shed too much light on specifics, he did say some things, such as the fact that the "real" Mandarin would be returning to the MCU.
The Mandarin was in the background of the first Iron Man, manipulating events through his Ten Rings terrorist organisation, but wasn't heard from again until Iron Man 3, where the concept was twisted into the Trevor Slattery fake-out plot. Still, at the end of spin-off "One Shot", we learned that a real version was indeed still out in world. One of the questions Feige was asked was whether the character and his organisation would rear their heads again, to which he simply replied, "yes". There have always been knotty racial questions about potential treatment of the character, but with the Marvel team pushing for more diversity going forward and the existence of the Shang-Chi film means it could actually work on screen going forward.
Other topics covered included the Hulk, with Feige dropping word that we might – stress on the might, at this point – see more from his "Smart Hulk" version in future. "Many years ago, Mark [Ruffalo] came in for a meeting with us at Marvel Studios to discuss ways in which the Hulk could grow and evolve in upcoming films. He pitched a lot of cool ideas, some of which led to what you saw in Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War and Endgame, and some of which would still be cool to see someday."
Check out the AMAA (Ask Me Almost Anything) for more, including the fact he thinks Steve Rogers was always worthy enough to lift Thor's hammer and that the Disney+ streaming service series will "totally and completely" connect with the movies. Sorry, Agents Of SHIELD, we guess you're still out of luck.
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