'Avengers: Infinity War' will have new set of heroes

'Avengers: Infinity War' shakes up the Marvel Universe--including its line-up?Marvel

Marvel fans may be seeing a new batch of superheroes in the next "Avengers" movie and also a huge chunk of the existing superheroes disappear from the MCU as well. How huge of a chunk? Well, maybe the whole line-up of existing heroes.

In a panel interview at the Wizard World New Orleans Comic Convention, "Captain America: Civil War" co-director Joe Russo explained how Marvel studios plans to revamp the Avengers line up by the time "Avengers: Infinity War" comes out to theatres.

"Some New Avengers in phase 4 are going to become prominent and then maybe some Avengers might not be around anymore," Russo said in the interview. "So, we'll see how all this plays out but you have to treat every character with respect. I think it's interesting that if you've seen four or five movies with the lead character having an arc, I want to see some story telling from some of the secondary characters."

There are about 70 characters up for consideration according to the directors, some of whom may be appearing in the next one or two Marvel films, so fans can expect a few surprise cameos in the upcoming "Civil War" film the way that Vision was introduced in "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

The statement Joe gave was very much in line with recent rumours of some big names in the Avengers line-up being taken off the list. Hawkeye has been rumoured to be leaving the team to focus on his family. Tony Stark may be gone by the time "Iron Man 4" comes out with Robert Downey Jr. saying himself that he will not be doing another "Iron Man" film anymore. Then there are the talks of Captain Steve Rogers getting killed in "Captain America: Civil War" (Although this won't be the first time Marvel will be killing Cap).

The Russo brothers have not clearly stated which characters will be part of the "Avengers: Infinity War," but in an interview, Joe hints that the Guardians will be joining the band to go against Thanos. When asked if Starboard and his team will be in "Infinity War," Joe responded, "That is another one that we would have to reserve as a surprise, but we will say this: People will not be disappointed in the amount of characters in the movie."