The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues onward. While we know that the finished product of Marvel’s The Avengers 2 is several years away, the studio is about to at least start work on the project. Screen Daily reported that production for the sequel is about to begin in Pinewood-Shepperton at the end of this year with filming expected to begin in early 2014. This will be the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be filmed in that area with Thor: The Dark World filmed in and around the area and Guardians of the Galaxy is currently in production there.

Not much information has been released about the sequel, however, we do know that writer-director Joss Whedon will be back and is currently working on the script for the film. The cast has not been confirmed but it is reasonable to believe that it will be similar to the first film and feature Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe  is the film franchise and shared fictional universe that is the setting for films based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The shared universe of the films, much like the Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.

The first film to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Iron Man (2008), followed by The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and Marvel’s The Avengers(2012). Six additional films are in various stages of development as of April 2013: Iron Man 3 (2013) and Thor: The Dark World (2013) are in post-production, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) is filming, and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) have entered pre-production, and The Avengers 2 (2015) and Ant-Man (2015) are in the early stages of development.

The films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe have received both critical and commercial success, and the franchise as a whole ranks as the fifth highest-grossing film franchise of all time. Outside of feature films, the franchise has expanded into comic books, a series of short films called “Marvel One-Shots”, and the upcoming television series, S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel’s The Avengers 2 is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2015.