Marvel Studios may have only just released Doctor Strange two weeks ago, but as they must do with their cinematic universe, they must keep things moving. Production on all three of their 2017 releases, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok, have already wrapped. This leaves Black Panther as the next film on their slate not yet in production, but with director Ryan Coogler and his talented cast not set to start until early 2017, Marvel appeared to have a blank spot in their filming schedule.

Throughout all of the Phase 3 movies, the question has been how they would all lead up to Avengers: Infinity War and Untitled Avengers. While the Russo brothers have been busy scouting locations to begin filming, it appears that this may have been a ruse to hide the fact that filming has already begun.

Atlanta Filming on Twitter has revealed the surprising detail that Marvel began filming Avengers: Infinity War without anyone figuring it out. The photographer hasn't revealed which actors have been filming, but did say he has blurry photos of multiple cast members. Given the photographer's track record with set photos on past Marvel projects, it would be surprising if this was not true.

It has been unclear when the actual start date of production for Avengers: Infinity War would be, but was expected to be near the end of this year. Joe and Anthony Russo, who are directing Avengers 3 and 4, have been in Atlanta for weeks working through pre-production stages. At one point, this included having Josh Brolin visit the set to begin the motion-capture process for Thanos.

Production beginning now is only a surprise since it appears that cast members have been filming for a few days and somehow it went unnoticed. Normally, Marvel likes to make official announcements at the beginning of their productions, so if Infinity War is filming as it appears to be, then an announcement may not be too far off. Once the annoucement hits, the movie will feature the largest cast of any Marvel film and give the studio a chance to finally confirm who will, and maybe more importantly who won't, appear.

Many of the headlining names of the MCU have already been said to appear from the actors themselves or other outlets, but Marvel has yet to officially confirm anything. This should also give fans the opportunity to get a plot synopsis for potentially both films, or just one large synopsis that encompasses the events of both films. Either way, except an official announcement (and hopefully set photos) soon as Marvel continues moving along with the end of Phase 3.

Source: Atlanta Filming