Avengers: Infinity War Coming Earlier Than Expected

April 27th be with you.

That's the new release date for Avengers: Infinity War, which has been moved up a week worldwide from its long-held May 4th slot.

Marvel announced the news on Twitter via a conversation with Robert Downey Jr, framing it as a request from the actor himself. It's a change from their usual release strategy, which has seen movies open a week earlier than the United States internationally, although Black Panther was just a few days.

There are a couple of obvious reasons for the shift. The first is that, with this being the beginning of the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, spoilers are going to be a MUCH bigger deal for this movie than they ever have before. Bumping it up a week worldwide means fans in the U.S. don't have to spend those days avoiding social media or navigating a minefield of plot details online.

It also gives Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story - both of which are owned by Disney - some breathing room. It means Infinity War is now coming out a full four weeks ahead of Solo, rather than three, and is now three weeks ahead of Deadpool 2. That gives Solo less competition, and Infinity War more time without any. And it means we get to see it earlier, so everyone's a winner.

Are you excited for Infinity War? Share your thoughts and expectations down in the comments.