Marvel Studios has turned the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the most successful franchise in history, but they've never stayed totally faithful to the source material. While the MCU captures the spirit of the characters and the stories they're telling, they don't really ever directly adapt any particular Marvel Comics storylines. Now, Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo explains, at least from his perspective, why that's the case.

Joe Russo and his brother Anthony Russo have just started the massive press tour for Avengers: Infinity War, which arrives in theaters on April 27. During a recent interview, they discussed the influence that comic books are going to have on this movie. While certain books, like the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, will be reflected in the story, the director says they want to tell a different story. Here's what he had to say.

"We're inspired by the books, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not the Marvel comic book universe. They're different. As a comic book fan, I think it's fun to take elements from the books that I identify with. But if I want a literal interpretation, I'll just read the book. I think that Marvel jumped off with this cinematic experiment that they started 10 years ago with a narrative that diverts from that. So we wanted to fulfill storylines that we've set up in Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War that we want to carry forward into Avengers: Infinity War and the next one; but not necessarily do a literal interpretation of Jim Starlins' book. But there are great ideas in that book, and we owe a lot of the movie and what's behind the movie to Jim."

Avengers: Infinity War will see Thanos on a quest to gather all of the Infinity Stones so that he can "balance the universe." In other words, kill half of the inhabitants in existence. That bares similarity to the Infinity Gauntlet story, but as Joe Russo says, fans who just want that story can read the book. The MCU focuses on telling new stories inspired by the world of Marvel Comics. He continued, saying that it's important to throw a little fan service and connective tissue into the mix, but is aware that not all fans can be pleased by their movies.

"But it's been important for us to find connective tissue that the audience can relate to and has emotional connection to based upon what they've seen before. As far as fan service goes, every fan wants something different. You can't please all fans. We're fans, and we love making these movies, and we loved comic books growing up. So our mandate all along has been that we're going to make something that pleases us, that we're happy with and that we're excited about and that we want to share with people. Then we keep our fingers crossed that everybody's as excited about it as we are."

So far, the Russo brothers have a pretty terrific track record. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil war are amongst the most beloved MCU entries to date. So fans shouldn't be concerned about Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers 4. Just don't be expecting a direct adaptation of any single Marvel Comics story. This news comes to us courtesy of The Telegraph India.