Avengers 3 and 4 co-director Anthony Russo on his involvement with the future of the franchise:

We’re not participating in any thought whatsoever about what happens after these movies. So we know who we’re allowed to kill, and that’s about it. I don’t even think Marvel had any ideas about where they would go after [Avengers 3 and 4]. It’s not an end for all of these characters; it’s an end for some of these characters. So some of these characters will go on. So it’s more complicated, that’s why it’s not a clean ending.

Kevin Feige on the ending:

How can you have both an ongoing cinematic universe that continues to make films and, at the same time, occasionally bring things to a head? Something you’ve never really seen in superhero films is a conclusion. Is a finale. You’ve seen those in Lord of the Rings films. You’ve seen those in Harry Potter films, in Star Wars. Logan did it a little bit with that character. We thought it would be important to bring the current three-Phase, 22-movie current series to a conclusion. How do I say this? There will be two distinct periods between everything before Avengers 4 and everything after. I know it will not be in ways people are expecting.

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn on the different directors and the potential body count in the Avengers films:

I think part of that is also the natural evolution of the series. You can’t keep making movies that are too similar. You can’t make the same movie over and over again. If Marvel is going to survive, they have to start making movies with characters who are a little different. They have to start allowing characters to die. They have to start having stakes really mean something if they want people to stay interested.

Was the death of Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 getting us ready for a pile of dead Avengers?

It might be doing that in effect. It was not meant to do that in intent.

DEPARTING AVENGERS AND THE END OF AN ERA

Mark Ruffalo, on the set of Avengers 4, talking the end of the Avengers as we know it:

All good things come to an end. I’ve been here not as long as these other people and not in as many things. I’m really grateful for this ride, and I’ve had a lot of fun. These people are like a family. I mean, people have gotten married and had kids and divorced and all kinds of stuff has happened. And every time we come back, there’s a really nice bond between us. But, yeah, it’s sad to think of it as coming to an end for anybody, you know? Part of why I’m an actor is I get very tired doing the same thing over and over again. I’ve stayed away from television in part because of that. I’m a little ADHD casualty. But yeah, if it’s coming to an end for some of us, that makes me sad. It’s a good time to hang out with your friends and do what you love to do. I’ll cry on the last day of this.

Kevin Feige on saying goodbye:

I never went to summer camp when I was a kid, but the notion of the stories you hear of summer camp where you’re with people every day then it’s over. That happens on every movie. I just saw Scott Derrickson for the first time in months at this event in Atlanta, and I had spent almost every day for two and a half years with him. Same thing with Joss [Whedon]. Same thing with [Jon] Favreau. Same thing with James [Gunn] until we started gearing up again. So, in a certain way, it’s always like that. Up to this point there has always been a time when you get back together again. So the thought of that not happening is sad and we’ll have to organize some sort of a yearly brunch.