Avengers 4 is NOT a sequel to Infinity War say directors: NO more Thanos?

Originally they were called Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2.

Now it is just the one Infinity War movie and the second movie is awaiting a title which may well be a game changer for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Everybody has been expecting Infinity War to set up a devastating scenario as Thanos collects the six Infinity Stones. Even worse, he is expected to kill some of the MCU’s most beloved heroes along the way.

Avengers 3 was widely predicted to end on a cliffhanger with all the massed comicbook characters across the galaxy facing death and devastation as Thanos prepares to reshape reality. 

A shocking new interview with the directors has just changed everything.

CinemaBlend visited the Avengers sets in Atlanta and spoke with Joe Russo and he confirmed that the next two Avengers movies will stand separately.

He said: “Our approach has always been … we look at the process, as with [co-writers Christopher] Markus and [Stephen] McFeely, it’s simply the same thing in the way that the Winter Soldier relates to Civil War, and the way that Civil War relates to Infinity War. These two [Avengers] movies will also relate.

“There’s a narrative thread that is connecting these films, but at the same time, there’s an independence in terms of what the experience is, or where the story goes.” 

Russo added: “It isn’t a true two-parter…

“I think the two-parter concept came back when Marvel decided they were going to culminate the MCU. It was going to be a two-movie deal. But as we developed the movie, in execution, it ended up being more of two singular expressions. And I think that’s just what happened.”

So what does this mean for Thanos? After all he was the main feature of the huge cake that was created to celebrate the end of filming on Avengers 4 this past January. Is he in it or not?

The Mad Titan has been set up throughout the first three phases of the MCU as the ultimate villain. His single-minded quest is to unite all the Infinity Stones and reshape the galaxy. Either he does or he doesn’t by the end of Infinity War.

It would now be very strange to have him with only some of them by the end of Avengers 3. This would make no sense if the two films stand alone. It now soundslike Avengers 4 will have a separate, somewhat independent plotline.

Either this implies that Thanos will be dealt with by the end of Infinity War and will not feature in the second movie – or he will succeed in rewriting reality and Avengers 4 will be concerned with reestablishing eality and rebooting the entire franchise (along with the galaxy) in time for Phase 4.  

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AVENGERS INFINITY WAR IS OUT ON APRIL 26