With the sequel to “Captain America: The First Avenger” coming to theaters this April, Marvel has its eyes set on a third installment for the franchise. Though not officially greenlit, according to sources for Variety, brothers Anthony and Joe Russo will return as directors for the third film.

No negotiations have started yet as the ‘Winter Soldier’ isn’t in theaters, but according to Variety, Marvel was very impressed with the production of the sequel as well as the positive reactions from recent test screenings, that the studio moved quickly to lock down the brothers for the third film.

Many of the actors have options for a third film and as long as the ‘Winter Soldier’ performs well at the box office, a third film is definitely in the future.  No writer or release date has been announced, but sources say that Marvel and the Russos have started outlining what the third film’s story arc would be.

The almighty Kevin Feige will produce and Chris Evans will return in the starring role. The Russos have previously directed over 30 episodes of NBC’s “Community,”  and took over directing duties from “Captain America: The First Avenger” director Joe Johnson.  As of now, Marvel and Russo’s reps have no comment.

This move by Marvel signifies that they are very confident in the directors of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.  Since “Iron Man”, Fiege and the studio have always been cautious of committing to directors for future installments of their franchises too early in the process. Normally, Marvel seal the deal early in order for the director to assist with developing future sequels but the studio can and has moved faster when it was necessary-case in point when ‘Thor”director Kenneth Branagh passed on the sequel, Marvel signed Alan Taylor.

We’ll see whether or not the move paid off when “Captain America: the Winter Soldier” hits theaters on April 4.