Kevin Feige Says Marvel's Movies Planned Out Through 2021

You don't get to be the envy of every studio in Hollywood by waiting around until the last second to formulate a plan, and Marvel has been looking forward in planning their cinematic universe since before 2008's Iron Man. Already we've seen them putting the pieces in place for Phase Three, with a trio of open mystery dates in 2016 and 2017 that fans are eager to see filled. Movies like The Avengers don't just happen overnight, and seeing how intricately Marvel builds to the big payoff is just one reason why audiences love them.

Marvel Studios' chatty president Kevin Feige spoke to Wired and, while he didn't go into details, suggested that they have their entire film slate mapped out through 2021.

Feige: “I could arguably say what we’re planning for the year 2021. Will that happen? I don’t know. But what we planned for 2015 in 2006 is happening.”

While it should hardly come as a surprise, considering we've already heard talk of Doctor Strange and Black Panther receiving their own films, Feige does talk about expanding the cinematic universe in the future...

Feige: “Five years ago, looking at our plan, we knew that if Avengers was going to work, the movies had to stand alone. Now we have to prove to the studio that we’re more than just these five characters, these five franchises.”

Edgar Wright's Ant-Man will kick off Phase Three in 2015, and we can expect to see The Avengers 3 a couple of years after that or possibly in 2018. The mystery dates could be filled by sequels to Thor or Captain America, and maybe Guardians of the Galaxy if it proves to be a hit. Doctor Strange and Black Panther could fit in there somewhere, possibly taking one of the mystery dates, but there's a chance that Marvel is holding something secret up their sleeve. A lot could change depending on the market, the new TV series Agents of SHIELD, and other unforeseen issues , but it sounds like Marvel is ready to go for a very long time. The big question is whether or not Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man 4 factors into the equation.

What Marvel hero do you hope makes it to the big screen? Personally I'm hoping for Luke Cage, Moon Knight, and the New Warriors. Probably fat chance on two of those.