Rumor: Some Major Avengers may not Appear in 'The Avengers 3'

As Marvel's second phase comes to a close with Avengers: Age of Ultron, they will be coming to a crossroads with the third phase. Many of their biggest franchises will be wrapping up their trilogies, and their biggest stars have only one or two contractual obligations left. That means we could be nearing our last opportunities to see Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Chris Evans' Captain America, and yes, even Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. Last week a rumor surfaced that The Avengers 3 could be split into two movies as a means of keeping them around a bit longer, but now comes a new story that fleshes the idea out a bit more.

So according to Badass Digest, the plan to split The Avengers 3 isn't quite right, but Marvel will be using the single film to springboard into something new and much bigger. We've pretty much expected that new heroes like Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy would replace the old guard, but according to the site that change will begin with The Avengers 3. And as part of that we may not see characters like Thor and Captain America at all, in order to hold them over for one huge blowout.

Downey Jr.'s contract stipulates that he be in The Avengers 3, and Badass Digest speculates we'll see Iron Man teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the other new heroes, before the original crew comes back for a gigantic brouhaha of a crossover.

So there's a lot of guesswork in there but it's certainly plausible, and Marvel isn't likely to break the bank renegotiating contract extensions when they've proven so good at creating new stars. Keep this under your hat as a distinct possibility.