In a recent interview, Kevin Feige confirmed that Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man would be the official starting point of Marvel’s “Phase Three.” What other films will be included in the post-Avengers 2 grouping? For starters, none other than the long-rumored Doctor Strange adaptation. Feige mentioned Doctor Strange in the same sentence as the “Phase Two” film Guardians of the Galaxy, since both pictures will be somewhat outside of the normal realm of core characters we’ve come to know and love. Hit the jump for more on “Phase Three” from Feige and an update on Iron Man 3 and Avengers 2.

Feige recently spoke to MTV about the slate of Marvel films starting in 2015. We know that Ant-Man will debut on November 6th of that year and here’s what Feige had to say about the project:

“‘Ant-Man’ is definitely part of Phase Three. Like ‘Iron Man 3,’ it’s certainly set in the Marvel Universe, but it’s also through the lens of Edgar Wright — which is the only reason we’re making the movie…I’ve known Edgar since our first lunch together at Comic-Con in 2004. He asked me what Marvel was doing with ‘Ant-Man’ — we weren’t even a studio then; what a difference eight years makes! It’s very much an ‘Ant-Man’ origin movie from the perspective of Edgar Wright and his co-writer Joe Cornish. It will of course be firmly planted in the MCU, but a different corner than we’ve seen before.”

Feige went on to tease about other characters that we might see during “Phase Three,” but also confirmed Doctor Strange in the process:

“Beyond that… ‘Ant-Man’ is the only one officially announced, but you probably don’t have to look too far to guess at the next list of characters we’re toying with and beginning to develop…’Doctor Strange,’ which I’ve been talking about for years, is definitely one of them. He’s a great, original character, and he checks the box off this criteria that I have: he’s totally different from anything else we have, just like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ He’s totally different from anything we’ve done before, as is ‘Ant-Man,’ which keeps us excited.”

Before we can get to Phase Three, we must remember to stop and enjoy Phase Two! Starting in May, Iron Man 3 will kick off Marvel’s second set of films that will lead to The Avengers 2 in 2015. Just how soon can we expect to start seeing groundwork for the plot of the second Marvel mash-up? According to Feige (via MTV):

“I would say that the exercise of this film [Iron Man 3] is very much standalone, more so than any ‘Iron Man’ film since the first one. But because we are in Phase Two and we’re heading towards another ‘Avengers’ movie, there’s certainly a road that’s being paved — you just might not notice it…While you’re driving on the road, not knowing where it’s going, you might not realize that there are road signs and signals and lane changes that we’re setting up now — they might not be readily apparent the first time you see the movie…In this one, it has less to do with any sort of larger S.H.I.E.L.D. or cosmic overlay, but much more about Tony, his frame of mind, his viewpoint and the things he wants to pursue.”

Feige also updated the progress of The Avengers 2 and commented on Joss Whedon’s script so far:

“It’s still early days, but I told [Whedon] after reading the first sketch outline he delivered — and there’s a lot of work still to do, he has to sit down and turn this into a movie — but there are already seven things in there that are worth the price of admission alone.”

Avengers 2 aside, are you excited to see Doctor Strange on the big screen? We previously reported that the rumor of Viggo Mortensen taking on the role had been denied, but who would you want to see don the cape?