Robert Downey Jr says the cast of 'Avengers' feels "like a family" to him.

Robert Downey Jr

Robert Downey Jr

The 52-year-old actor - who plays Iron Man in the hit Marvel movies - stars alongside the likes of Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo in the 'Avengers' films, and Downey Jr has revealed that the star-studded cast have developed a close, family-like relationship over the years.

Looking ahead to the release of 'Avengers: Infinity War' this year and its as-yet-untitled sequel in 2019, he shared: "We're going to pull out the stops, and stop exploring conventions, and look to do stuff where we go, 'Oh, but if we do that, that's very, very definitive'. Well, great, let's get definitive for a change!

"We're like a family now. Ten years later, we're hanging out and having lunch, and kind of wondering when the draft is going to come in. Which one of us bites it and when?"

Meanwhile, Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has hailed the upcoming movie as a pioneering moment for the film studio.

While remaining tight-lipped about the upcoming movie's plot, Feige said that the next 'Avengers' releases will take Marvel in a new direction.

He told Entertainment Weekly magazine: "The notion of an ending, the notion of a finale, became very intriguing to us, in large part because you don't see it that often in this particular genre."