Avengers Infinity War director weighs in on Captain America's dramatic transformation

Avengers: Infinity War is pegged to be one of the biggest marvel blockbuster movies of 2018, which is set to feature a never-been-seen side of our beloved superhero, Captain America, who was last seen giving up his shield and going on the run from authorities in Civil War.

In the first trailer released, fans got a sneak peek at the rugged Steve Rogers, sporting a beard. Revealing the reason behind the look, Infinity Wars co-director, Joe Russo, spoke about Captain America's dramatic transformation into a nomad during Happy Sad Confused podcast. Russo directed the film with brother Anthony.

"I think we had mentioned this previously, it's no surprise and I think you see it in the trailer is that he is embracing the spirit of Nomad," Joe said.

"It was always our intent from the moment we got involved with that character to deconstruct him. That's what we like, that's what we find interesting. It's what Soderbergh responded to in our initial work."

Teasing a new character path for the superhero, following the events of Captain America Civil war, the director continued, "With a character called Captain America, you have to address the concept of who he is because his identity is tied to his country. So we thought it would be a really compelling narrative if he got into conflict with his identity, with the country, so the notion, the path that he's following is the same path that we left him in at the end of Civil War, which is he's a character without a country."

Previously, actor Chris Evans who plays Captain America had dropped a major hint about his eventual exit from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While appearing on Ellen DeGeneres Show back in 2017, he had told the host, "It is. My contract is up. I have Avengers three and four. We do 'Avengers 3' now, four is the latter part of the year and after that, that is the end of my contract."

The movie will feature the Avengers — torn apart after the events of Captain America: Civil War — joining forces with the Guardians Of The Galaxy to battle villain Thanos, who is trying to collect the Infinity Stones for a gauntlet that will allow him to inflict his will on all "reality".

The movie is scheduled to release on 27 April in the UK and on 4 May in the US.