A few months ago, the Russo brothers said there would be 67 characters in Avengers: Infinity War. The duo [jokingly?] adjusted their estimate to 68 shortly after. The exact number is beside the point. Joke or no joke, 67 or 68 characters, this just proves the Avengers: Infinity War cast is going to be epic.
Don’t worry, we won’t be seeing 50+ characters in the same movie, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely clarified to the Huffington Post . That specific number is just how many Marvel characters are available for use, everyone who has been part of the MCU on-screen universe so far.
“That number comes from the fact that that’s everyone who’s already been introduced. If you line up all the character’s who are available to use from the prior Marvel movies, it racks up to about 60 something characters, let alone the new ones you could bring in,” said Markus.
McFeely explains their office was filled with cards of all available (alive) Marvel characters. “The brothers came in and went, ‘Whoa.’ So that doesn’t mean that everyone is, you know, there’s not going to be 67 lead parts.”
After the numbers bit, the writers added they are most excited to finally put Thanos in the spotlight. “Really giving him good scenes. You know, he’s never been the villain in any of the movies. He’s never been the main character in that way, so giving lots of good screen time to Thanos is paramount and pretty fun,” McFeely said.
Markus noted that Infinity War ’s main antagonist, Thanos, has only had about “20 seconds” of screen time. We knew Thanos would star in Avengers: Infinity War after the Avengers: Age of Ultron mid-credit scene, where he decides to go after the infinity gems himself after numerous failed attempts of sending minions to retrieve them.
He’s on an undying quest to find all 6 infinity stones (as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy ) to fill his infinity gauntlet, which would give him amazing powers: Space Stone, Mind Stone, Reality Stone, Power Stone, Soul Stone and the Time Stone. Thanos is able to absorb, project and manipulate cosmic energy, allowing him to use a range of abilities including telekinesis and telepathy. Since he’s also a technology genius, he can teleport, time-travel and journey to alternate universes.
“He hasn’t had an amazing scene. I think it’s an advantage ultimately, right? Because people are anticipating this guy coming in and really delivering the goods. So, I think they’re eager, and we just have to deliver it. We don’t have to convince them that he’s gonna be interesting. We just have to execute what has been teased,” said McFeely.
Joe Russo revealed the next Avengers installment hopes to showcase the storylines of secondary characters during the January Wizard World New Orleans Comic Convention.
“It's cyclical. Some New Avengers in phase 4 are going to become prominent and then maybe some Avengers might not be around anymore...I think it's interesting that if you've seen four or five movies with the lead character having an arc, I want to see some storytelling from some of the secondary characters. We're focusing on that right now with Infinity War while we're breaking into those movies, is which characters can we pull to the forefront who potentially haven't had their own 'A' story arc to this point. I think you'll see that the supporting Avengers are going to become primary Avengers."
Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 releases on May 4, 2018, but Captain America: Civil War comes first on May 6.
What Marvel characters are you hoping to see? Let us know in the comments!
