Pain and sacrifice are two of the most powerful tools used in good storytelling. And Avengers: Infinity War director Joe Russo says there will be plenty of both in their upcoming Avengers sequels. While answering questions for Chinese website Sina Weibo, Rosso explained:

“I don’t know about the need to accept it, but I will say this: we love being told good stories, and we love telling good stories, and all of our energy, and our effort, and our thought, and our passion goes into telling the best story that we can. And for us, the best stories have stakes. Characters have to make sacrifices. To really, really feel the true emotion and the hero’s journey they have to go through trials and those trails could cost them something.

“So, for us, its very important that the heroes feel pain and that they make sacrifices because I think that, not only is a great storytelling, but it also is inspiring and I think we need a lot of inspiration in this world right now. So, for us, I don’t know if we can ever get you to accept it, but I promise you this: we’ll do our damnedest to tell you the best story possible, and what you do with it from there is up to you.”

Joe Russo’s brother and co-director Anthony Russo agreed with him. It’s about time they do this. A lot of fans have been saying that these Marvel movies, as good as they are, haven’t really shown any real pain or sacrifice in their films. A few characters have died, but none have been overwhelmingly meaningful. Agent Coulson’s death might have been the most meaningful… until they brought him back to life for Agents of SHIELD. Then it meant nothing.

Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on May 4, 2018.