Russo Brothers Try To Convince You 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Takes Place Before 'Infinity War'

Following the big cliffhanger ending of Avengers: Infinity War, the future productions of Marvel Studios that feature characters who met a grisly end face an interesting challenge.

Knowing which characters have a movie coming out after Avengers 4 has the potential to ruin some of the suspense that comes from not knowing who is going to survive. Specifically, films like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel would seem to solidify the fact that the heroes of those movies will live to fight another day. But directors Anthony & Joe Russo are trying to combat that.

In a recent interview, the Russo brothers do an impressive amount of tapdancing in an effort to convince Marvel Cinematic Universe fans that simply because Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is happening doesn't mean it happens after the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4.

Speaking with The Huffington Post, here's what Anthony Russo had to say:

"Here's the thing, I think it's important to remember anything is possible in the MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe]. Just because there's a sequel on the books doesn't mean ... people become accustomed to time moving linearly in the MCU. That doesn't necessarily have to be the case. There's a lot of very inventive ways of where the story can go."

Then Joe Russo added on to that:

"There's four years between Guardians 2 and Infinity War. That's a long time, and a lot of Guardians stories to tell. Again, as Anthony said, don't expect everything to move forward in a linear fashion in the Marvel universe."

This sounds like Anthony & Joe Russo simply trying to misdirect and throw fans off their game. After all, Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista have already confirmed that they're coming back for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which would spoil any suspense regarding their potential fate in Avengers 4.

However, if Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 took place before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, how would it be able to complete the story arc of the current iteration of the team? James Gunn has already indicated this will be the end of a trilogy for this version of the team. And if that happened before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, that would kind of cheapen what is  meant to be an end to the story arc for these characters.

For now, we'll just have to keep an open mind about what the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe holds. But we're of the mind that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 taking place before the events of Infinity War doesn't make sense.

Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019. while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected sometime in 2020.