'Avengers 4' Release Date May Have Been Moved Up According To IMAX [Updated]

Just when you thought the Avengers 4 release date was set in stone, a new schedule from IMAX may have thrown all of that out of the window and down into the pits of Vormir. Originally slated for May 2019, the  Avengers 4 release date may have been quietly pushed up to April 2019. But it's nothing that Marvel hasn't done before.

We may not yet know the title for Avengers 4, but at least we have an idea of its new release date. Marvel Studios has Avengers 4 currently slated for May 3, 2019, a release date that has not changed since it was first announced four years ago. But that may no longer be the case. An IMAX quarterly SEC filing (via CBR.com) may have inadvertently revealed that Avengers 4 will be coming in April 2019.

In the document, IMAX has a list of all upcoming films set to be released in IMAX theaters in 2019, from Universal's Glass in January to Star Wars: Episode 9 in December. But the release date for the as-yet-untitled Avengers 4 differs from the official date currently touted by Marvel: it's listed for April 2019.

Marvel has been known to release its films internationally a week earlier than the domestic release date. And it should be noted that the IMAX's financial report may be in reference to the first global release of the film — not the U.S. release.

But remember, this wouldn't be the first time Marvel pulled a fast one on us with an Avengers sequel release date. Marvel's trend of separate international and domestic was broken with Avengers: Infinity War. Just one month before the release of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel pushed up the original May 4, 2018 release to April 27, 2018, bumping up the release date by one week — all allegedly at the whim of star Robert Downey Jr. In reality, it was all a clever marketing scheme that built buzz through a cutesy social media exchange with Downey Jr. and the Marvel Studios Twitter.

It was a smart move, as it prevented spoilers from leaking before U.S. audiences got a chance to see Infinity War. With lid screwed even tighter around potential spoilers for Avengers 4, Marvel could pull the same move with the climactic comic book movie.

So it's totally possible that IMAX let leak an Avengers 4 release date change before Marvel Studios could plan another social media marketing gimmick. Maybe this time, they would have let Tom Holland "accidentally" reveal the release date on his Instagram. Or better yet, have Tom Holland reveal it through some hot new dance meme.

Correction: IMAX's 10Q financial report references when the film will first appear in IMAX theaters and doesn't necessarily refer to domestic theaters.