'Avengers: Infinity War' moves release date up one week amid 'Black Panther' success

"Black Panther" has grossed $700 million worldwide, but Tesco said it made "a mistake" and accidentally called its tie-in costumes "Dark Panther." (AP)

As “Black Panther” continues to dominate the box office, Marvel Studios is surprising fans by moving the character’s return up one week. In a fun Twitter exchange with the principal star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it was revealed that “Avengers: Infinity War” will release on April 27, rather than May 4.

Things started when the studio’s official Twitter page posted a gif asking fans how excited they were for May 4. Robert Downey Jr., who kicked off the entire MCU in 2008 with the release of “Iron Man” responded to the tweet.

“Any chance I could see it earlier?” he asked.

“Anything for you, Mr. Stark! How’s April 27th?”

“Great. With Friends?”

The Marvel account then tweeted a gif of the moment in the trailer when Black Panther, Okoye, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk, War Machine, Falcon and the Winter Soldier race into battle.

“You mean these friends?” it asked, tagging each of the actors in question.

“The entire world?” Downey Jr. tweeted, prompting the big announcement.

There’s currently no word as to why the studio decided to make the change. However, as Deadline notes, Disney has used CinemaCon, which takes place April 23-26, as a platform to tease its most anticipated project of the year. Two years ago, that meant a sneak peek of “Captain America: Civil War.” Last year, fans were treated to a preview of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.” It’s not outside the realm of possibility that “Avengers: Infinity War” could be on the docket for 2018.

For those unfamiliar, “Infinity War” will be one of the most unprecedented films in the superhero genre, bringing in the dozens of heroes the MCU has introduced since 2008 to team up and fight one common enemy. This includes Downey Jr.’s Iron Man as well as Captain America, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther and many more.

The move comes at a good time for superhero fans as “Black Panther” continues to captivate audiences across the country. Chadwick Boseman's character will be featured heavily in “Infinity War” meaning the new release date can act as a low-level sequel to the film which just dropped less than two weeks ago.