Why The Avengers 4 Is No Longer 'The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2'

Marvel Studios had initially announced that they would be making the third and fourth installments of The Avengers series back to back, under the guise of a two-film epic event titled The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2. But recently Disney changed the title of the first film to The Avengers: Infinity War, while the second is now untitled. So what is the reason behind that change? If The Avengers 4 is no longer an Infinity War film, what will it become?

Joe Russo recently talked to CinemaBlend and explained that the reason for the change is that the two films will be very different:

We wanted the movie to be very different and distinctive, you know. There's certainly cross-pollination between characters and some story-arcs, but you know, the first movie is very clearly Avengers: Infinity War and, in time, we will reveal what the second film is.

As for how long we'll have to wait to learn the title of The Avengers 4, Russo teased: "You'll learn that, but not for quite some time."

I am very curious about Anthony's tease of The Avengers 4 being something else that will be revealed later. I had previously assumed that the new names were more of a marketing movie — it is believed that numbers in sequels traditional turn off moviegoers. Previously, co-director Anthony Russo had said that both parts of Infinity War would feel like very different movies:

The movies are very very different from one another. It's not a part one and part two scenario, necessarily. They're just two different expressions. I think it creates a misconception that we're shooting them at the same time.

I had originally heard that Part 1 was more of a film focusing on Thanos and his struggle to find the last remaining Infinity Stones and that Part II would be the actual Infinity War. But with the new titles, it seems like the plans have changed a lot.

We don't know much about Infinity War at this point, so it's hard to guess what The Avengers 4 will become. So far Marvel Studios has used major comic book events for the inspiration for many of the films, so one could assume that the second part might be loosely adapted from a previous comic storyline. The fact that Marvel is holding that title close to the vest at this point might mean that the title won't be revealed until the end of Infinity War or after release. The title could be a spoiler for the direction of the storyline post-Infinity War. Anyone have any guesses?

Almost every character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is expected to appear in the films, including the Guardians of the Galaxy but probably not the characters from the Netflix or ABC television series. Principal photography for both films is scheduled to begin in November 2016, lasting until June 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia. Both films would be shot using IMAX/Arri 2D digital cameras, marking the first time that a feature film will be shot entirely using IMAX cameras and its exclusive aspect ratio.