And so it is with the MCU. You can watch the Iron Man trilogy while ignoring the larger universe, and mostly this works. But their individual titles serve as the opening strokes of a larger story, which have led up to The Avengers and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The first two “phases” of the MCU’s ultimate story have come and gone, and soon the third phase begins, with the release of Captain America: Civil War. Of course, as any ardent reader of comics will attest, excitement for one new storyline does little but breed excitement for the next, and already eyes and attention are turning to the major MCU event that will be Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2.
The Infinity War movies have sparked a lot of conversation about the direction of the MCU, with many wondering if the movies would be merely two parts to a larger whole. Though much of what’s to come from Marvel is still shrouded in secrecy, an io9 report (from the Civil War promotional tour) has shed some light on the coming event movies, as assurances have been given that each movie would be an individual, standalone piece to a puzzle, much like the MCU has previously done. Civil War and Infinity War co-director Anthony Russo confirmed this, saying (with regard to Infinity War – Part 1 and Part 2):
“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.”