Kevin Feige has been on quite a winning streak since 2008. It took some doing, and some paying of dues, as his resumé up until Iron Man was- shall we say?- questionable, but he’s become a huge force in Hollywood. But Feige is quick to point out that his sudden reversal of fortune hinged on the success of a major gamble. The gamble, of course, paid off, and he now says it’s one of the things that makes him look forward to Avengers: Infinity War and for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So what was that gamble? Feige tells IGN that he and his Marvel Studios team had to create a world that was both singular in its vision and expansive in it’s scope:

“When Tony Stark and Stark Industries and the world of that first movie was the definition of the Cinematic Universe, the question was how do you bring a soldier from World War 2 into that in a way that makes sense, how do you bring a Norse god from a whole other planet into that in a way that makes sense, how do you introduce flying aircraft carriers into that? That was the challenge. Now — particularly after Avengers, after Guardians, after this movie — the sky’s the limit with where we go.“

He’s right, of course, as the MCU hinges on several seemingly disparate elements coming together cohesively under the same umbrella. That was the “heavy lifting,” so to speak. And now that they’ve established the rules and the ever-widening scope of this shared universe, it’s basically become an open sandbox for Feige and the folks he hires to create these movies.

When it comes to Avengers: Infinity War, which is five movies away, Feige had plenty to say during arecent Doctor Strange preview event:

“There’s a reason we have publicly called the first one ‘Infinity War’ and the second one ‘Untitled,’ because the movies we were developing were not — certainly there’s a connection, there are with all our movies — but it’s not a first part and a second part. It’s a whole movie and a whole story, and then a whole movie and a whole story. That’s about all I can say. It’s certainly inspired by everything that has come before and everything that is hinted at before.”

That wasn’t all, as the normally secretive producer gushed some more about what he thinks is one of the cooler aspects of Avengers: Infinity War:

“We will be intercutting a lot of stories in that movie in a lot of different locales, as it sort of is in the Avengers movies as well; who is facing off against who. In this movie, it’s going to be fun to mix that up. One of the things that’s great about the Infinity Gauntlet is everybody tried to go up against Thanos whether they were god-like powers or not, because that’s what Avengers do. The fun about those two movies that we’re doing essentially at the same time is everybody’s there.“

In terms of one of the new characters who’ll be taking a swing at Thanos in one of these upcoming Avengers movies, the most pressing one is Doctor Strange, who is about to make his big solo debut. Here’s what Feige said about Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch):

“He’s not all powerful. Without giving too much away, he’s not an expert when he faces off against the things he has to face off with in this movie, even toward the end of the movie. So there’s a learning curve for him, which is always fun for all of the heroes — and they face a pretty tough dude in the next Avengers movie.“

Doctor Strange arrives on November 4, while Avengers: Infinity War won’t drop until May 4, 2018.

SOURCE: IGN