The Russo Brothers – the filmmakers behind the recent mega-hit Captain America: The Winter Soldier – have signed a three-year, first-look deal with Sony Pictures. Deadline reports that the deal involves the development of projects from Sony and its Columbia and TriStar divisions. Given the widespread praise and success of the last Captain America movie, it’s not surprising that these two talented gents would be scooped up like this.

Of course, what is surprising is that this deal is not with Marvel/Disney. The directing duo was a shoe-in for the next Cap film, Captain America: Civil War, but nearly everyone also had these guys pegged as the directors of the third Avengers flick as well. Given the rumor that Spider-Man is supposedly making his first Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Civil War, it seems a natural fit that who ever handles that would slide over to Avengers: Infinity War.

Now, we don’t know the inner workings of the deal. Sony and Disney have snuggled up recently, so it’s very possible that this limited-time, first-look agreement leaves room for Infinity War. The brothers could be acting as producers and writers over at Sony while directing the big-budget movie over at Marvel. For all we know, their deals with Marvel remain completely unaffected. Or this could mean that the Russos are out and Disney is instead filling the directing chair of Avengers: Infinity War with a yet unannounced talent. Marvel has certainly had no problem dropping talent; just ask Edward Norton and Terrence Howard. Would they ditch the guys who made Cap 2 such a huge, huge hit? Is James Gunn checking his calendar right now? Only time will tell.

[HT: Deadline]