'Avengers 4' Begins Next Marvel Cinematic Universe Book

While Avengers: Infinity War has bee described as the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first book, the film's sequel will serve as the starting point for a brand new saga.

Heading into Avengers 4, the directors won't talk much about the film's plot or title, but they are willing to acknowledge how important it is to what's coming next. Speaking to ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo expressed how the story jumps from the current adventures to the next.

"I think that this is a hand-off from the last book," Joe Russo said, "From the first to the next book that will be written."

The next book will likely include sequels to Black Panther, new characters like Nova, and is guaranteed to have a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel somewhere along the way.

"If this is the final chapter of the book that's been written for the last ten years, certainly it's the final... there's going to be some ending and some beginnings," Joe Russo said. "To follow the last film in this first grand story that Marvel has told, to follow the O.G. Avengers into that story is certainly tantalizing for us as story tellers."

As for Avengers: Infinity War and the film's ending which prompted Avengers 4 to begin with the original roster of characters from 2012's The Avengers, the director never strayed from their original plan.

"We always knew that that would be the most profound or some of the most profound beats of the film," Joe Russo said. "We wanted the story, Thanos, even though he's the villain, to follow the traditional arc of hero beats. In that you have to follow through with what he did and carry him to the ending, self-satisfied, sitting on his porch, feeling the weight of what he's done in order for him to have the completion. That's how it wraps up for us and that's why we say it's a self-contained story and that there is an ending, it's just not the ending that you're used to. And Thanos, if you track all his major beats, they tell a complete story."

Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War are now playing in theaters. Ant-Man and The Wasp is set for release on July 6, 2018. Captain Marvel will follow it on March 6, 2019, with the untitled Avengers 4 set to tie everything about the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bow on May 3, 2019.

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