Marvel has officially moved Avengers: Infinity War's U.S. release date a week earlier from May 4 to April 27. It may only be seven days, but when you're dealing with a film of this size and so close to release - it's now less than two months away - that's a major shift. Why have Marvel - or, more accurately, Disney - chosen to do this?After all, Marvel's owned the first weekend of May release slot since The Avengers in 2012, with the only gap being 2014 where Captain America: The Winter Soldier released in April and Guardians of the Galaxy in July. Considering Joss Whedon's first uniting of Earth's Mightiest Heroes remains Marvel Studios biggest release to this day, it seemed crazy to mess with the formula. Yet that's exactly what they've done here.Related: Did Infinity War Trailers Already Reveal The Soul Stone?There's been no official word on why the change has been made - it was announced via a Twitter conversation between Marvel and Iron Man himself, Robert Downey, Jr., framed as a request from the actor - but looking at the packed May it's moving away from and the wider state of Marvel and Disney, we have a pretty good idea.This Page: Avengers Now Has Even Less Competition

The Move Gives Infinity War Three Weeks To Dominate

May is one of the biggest moviegoing months - even as the traditional Summer season begins to adjust - and at one point was going to see the release of three major tentpoles: Infinity War on May 4, Deadpool 2 on May 18, and Solo: A Star Wars Story on May 25. We'll come back to Han later as his relationship to the Avengers is more complicated, but the Merc with a Mouth provides reason enough by himself.

The first Deadpool was a smash hit, breaking records for both R-rated movies and its February release (the latter was since surpassed by Black Panther). This unprecedented success led to screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick saying the film could release at any point in 2018 and not feel the heat. Fox put their money where their mouth was in January when they moved the film from an original June 2 release back two weeks to May 18. This felt to be a pivot around Solo, but also meant the film could potentially mop up the dregs from Infinity War.

It's unlikely that Disney were actually intimidated by Fox's move, but it nevertheless kneecapped Avengers 3's long-term chances: this is a movie not only pegged for a top-level opening weekend, but impressive legs in the weeks to follow. To have Deadpool 2 dropping on its third weekend greatly hurts that - they play to somewhat different audiences due to rating but still fall under the superhero genre - and risks the film not having the same sustained success as its predecessors: The Avengers and Age of Ultron both had nearly a month without comparable competition.

Solo Now Has Less Competition

But Solo also plays a part, although a more corporate one than Deadpool 2. Marvel and Lucasfilm are both owned by Disney, and so there's an underlying desire for corporate synergy (indeed, the reason the Star Wars Story is coming out in Summer instead of December seems to be to make way for Disney's Mary Poppins Returns). Avengers 3 moving gives an advantage point to Solo - and advantage point it sorely needs.

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The Han Solo movie may be part of the all-powerful Star Wars brand, but is the subject of intense scrutiny thanks to its director shakeup and long-standing question over the story's need to be told. Put that at the end of a month that's already featured two of the most anticipated films of 2018 and there's an uphill battle. Now Infinity War is five weeks before it, Marvel is essentially out of the equation. Although box office is only half the story...

Thor and International Releases

Marvel Is Closing The International Gap

The Infinity War move to April doesn't just see Marvel moving from the first May weekend tradition, it also has them stop the long-customary staggered release: for the majority of releases since Iron Man 2, MCU films have released a week early internationally. The only exceptions have been Captain America: The First Avenger (which naturally hit first in its namesake's homeland), Spider-Man: Homecoming (which was a Sony production), and Black Panther (which released mere days early in places like the UK).

The reasoning for the early international release is rather simple: it works into Marvel's fine-tuned hype machine, which ramps up a whole month ahead of release, and allows the opening weekend worldwide totals to be bigger than any competition releasing day-and-date globally can hit. However, that's changing: Black Panther didn't do it, now neither is Infinity War, and the same is true of Ant-Man & the Wasp (which releases the same week domestically and internationally, and a month later in the UK due to the World Cup).

Related: Marvel May Have Just Teased Red Skull's MCU Survival

Black Panther may have played a part in all this. The film smashed all sorts of box office records, meaning the perceived advantage of a staggered release is rather moot - Marvel movies will be a success no matter what - and the worldwide numbers stand stronger. It also meant the cultural moment was universal, not unfolding at a varied pace in different parts of the world (while the critical praise still did the requisite hyping up). And that shared experience may be the real reason for all this.

The Avengers: Infinity War Date Change Protects Spoilers

The staggered release has naturally already faced spoiler issues - half the audience sees the movie a week early, so the discussion is already being had before Americans can see it. In the early days when Marvel was on the rise and internet discourse was less intense, this wasn't an issue: but in 2018 it most certainly is. US cinemagoers have to either swear off all social media or accept spoilers, and either way, when they finally see the film a good portion of the fanbase has already moved onto other topics. Marvel's a very fan-focused studio, so this trepidation amongst audiences and lack of hype is something they have surely wanted to address for a while.

And Avengers: Infinity War is the tipping point. This isn't just another Marvel movie - this is the culmination of everything so far, the start of the epic two-part finale that will wrap up the entire 22-movie arc and potentially reboot the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Big things are going to happen that change everything, much bigger than Loki's defeat or the emergence of Vision, and that means spoilers will be rife. The date change means any deaths, twists or other unexpected turns are protected and the entire global fanbase of the MCU can experience Infinity War around about the same time (time zone differences permitting).

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Avengers: Infinity War is going to be a global event, and in moving the release date Marvel has ensured the whole world can be there. All Americans can do is thank RDJ.

Next: Avengers 4 Can Fix Marvel's Broken Timeline

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