Anthony and Joe Russo may be done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers 4. The Russos were primarily known for directing and producing episodes of comedy shows until they made the jump to blockbuster filmmaking with Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014, providing audiences with one of the shared universe's most critically-acclaimed installments. They returned to the silver screen two years later with Captain America: Civil War but not before agreeing to helm the next two Avengers movies for Marvel Studios.

The Russos signed on to direct Avengers: Infinity War and the currently-untitled Avengers 4 - which was originally billed as being the second-half of a two-part story - in 2015, but they may not have realized the sheer scope of the endeavor they would be embarking on when they initially boarded the project. Now, two years later and one Avengers film down, the Russos are knee-deep in filming the final chapter in the MCU's first saga (culminating 10 years and 22 movies worth of storytelling), and it seems like they don't plan on sticking around when the next saga begins.

Josh Brolin, who plays the supervillain Thanos in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, has been busy promoting his latest film, Only The Brave, but he's obviously been inundated with questions about his upcoming comic book movies. In an interview with Collider, the actor seemed to indicate that the Russos plan on departing the franchise after Avengers 4.

"...Also, I think that they’re in a position very openly and raw-ly where they’re like, ‘We would never do this again. This is a one-time deal. To put this many successful actors together is such a pain in the ass, but it’s been worth it. We’re doing two movies. One back to back, and this is it for us. Then we’ll go off in another direction,’ but this is a very, very, very ambitious project that I think is going to pay off in a big way."

Although there have been plenty of movies over the years that have been carried by ensemble casts, the fact of the matter is, nothing comes close to the sheer size of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4. As previously mentioned, the movies take 10 years worth of storytelling that began with Jon Favreau's Iron Man in 2008 and bring it all to a head with an ultimate showdown between Earth's mightiest heroes and the Mad Titan Thanos and his Black Order.

Avengers: Infinity War wrapped production earlier this year, and the Russos are currently in production on Avengers 4. Considering just how many people are involved with both movies, it's understandable for the Russos to want to take a break from making comic book movies and maybe take a well-deserved vacation when it's all said and done.

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Source: Collider

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