MCU: 12 Things We Learned From 4Chan's Latest Marvel Movies "Leak"
3. Avengers 4 Will End The Original Avengers Arc
The Rumour
Marvel want to renegotiate the expiring contracts, but Avengers 4 will still close off the story arcs of the original Avengers, in the interest of pushing new characters like Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man in the next phases.
Response
Why can't they all co-exist? There could easily be a New Avengers team and the Illuminati for example, allowing for the older characters to continue on as supporting characters in the Avengers ensemble movies, and then possibly in their own movies as well.
It makes sense for this to be a sort of cross-roads though: the expansion to include new characters only really matters if they are given something to actually do to validate them. They need to be given the same sort of auspicious shared billing as Cap, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk were initially. I don't say Black Widow or Hawkeye there because they've not had enough of it, to be perfectly honest.