Singapore—“And there came a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat.” These were the famous words that announced the formation of the Avengers in Marvel Comics’ “Avengers” # 1 in 1963. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Avengers were Marvel’s idea of putting its most powerful heroes together on one stage.
These words ring even more truly now with the impending arrival of “Avengers: Infinity War,” the biggest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only is it the 19th MCU film, but it comes 10 years since “Iron Man” kicked off the evolution in 2008. “Infinity War” literally brings together most of the characters appearing in the past films.
Ambition is not something lacking in this franchise, as its creative forces speak of “Infinity War” not only as the greatest comic book movie ever, but perhaps even one of the greatest movies ever made, period.
“Logistically, this is the most complicated movie in history to put together,” Joe Russo (who codirects this film with his brother Anthony) tells reporters. “I think we shut down Hollywood for a year because we had every actor working in the business scheduled in the movie.” Russo goes on to say: “You can count on one hand the people who have done something like this. Certainly Peter Jackson and the ‘Lord of The Rings’ is something like this. It’s significant to shoot with the cameras for one year straight without a break.”
The Russos led a shoot that lasted for one year in the United States, United Kingdom and Scotland. It was a shoot that required the gathering of a cast that cannot be compared to any before. Russo admits not knowing exactly how any characters were in the film, noting that at one point, they had put magnets with character names on a white board. “There were 67 characters,” he says. “There are a lot of cameos.” Executive producer Trinh Tran says they had just released 22 posters of the characters. “The rest of us had moved on to other projects, traveling or found new boyfriends and they have been locked in an editing bay together,” Robert Downey Jr. says. “It’s true they really have super powers,” Benedict Cumberbatch says. “The line producers were managing our schedule and it was an impossibility. It was a miracle they got all of us together.”
“Infinity War,” after all, effectively puts together characters from the “Iron Man” (Downey), “Captain America” (Chris Evans), “Thor” (Chris Hemsworth), “Guardians of the Galaxy” (led by Chris Pratt), “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (Tom Holland), “Doctor Strange” (Cumberbatch) and “Black Panther” (Chadwick Boseman) franchises, among others.
There are so many heroes in this movie that fans noticed what appeared to be the absence of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in the trailer and posters, something that’s spawned memes and jokes. “We did not forget the twice-nominated Jeremy Renner in ‘Infinity Wars.’ We have two movies we’re working on, ‘Avengers 3’ and ‘Avengers 4’; that’s a lot of story real estate. There are only so many people you can put in one film. We have an interesting story cooked up for Hawkeye. Patience is a virtue,” Russo says.
Simply getting all the actors to shoot their scenes was a massive task. Tran says, “one of the biggest challenges of this particular movie is just the sheer number of characters we have. I think we’ve masterfully created these storylines so each of our characters will have a moment to really connect with each other.”
But with that mix comes the opportunity to do something new, as when Thor meets the Guardians in the trailer. Russo says “that chemistry creates a lot of humor because there’s a lot of conflict.” Tranh adds the Russos are “exceptional at bringing all these characters who were already in their own franchises into this movie.”
Just the prospective interactions between Tony Stark and Doctor Strange, echoing how Stark had earlier clashed with Captain America, should be worth the price of admission. “It’s the clash of the egotistical, vainglorious goatees. We have a bit of clash and that’s not a bad thing. It’s something to enjoy in the film, to see how that relationship unfolds,” Cumberbatch admits. War makes for, uh, strange bedfellows.
It’s because the heroes have to face a threat unlike any other. Inspired by the 1991 “The Infinity Gauntlet” story arc by Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim. The almost omnipotent Thanos (Josh Brolin), previously just glimpsed in end credit scenes, is tearing through the galaxy as he gathers the five Infinity Stones, which would give him the power to kill half the galaxy’s population. As Thor attempts to build a weapon to fight Thanos with, the Avengers lead a defense of the Earth because the Vision (Paul Bettany) has the Mind Stone on his forehead. There will also be a battle to defend Wakanda, as other heroes proceed to Titan to mount another defense.
That’s all we know, because the production has been shrouded in mystery. “Thanos demands silence,” Russo says. “No spoilers.” Actors were famously given only their bits of the script to read; no one had seen the entire film yet. The story already has its own continuation in 2019’s yet-untitled “Avengers” film; that film’s prospective title has also remain under wraps as it allegedly holds spoilers for this film’s ending.
The puzzled but dedicated cast of actors leaned on each other through the challenging shoot. “It’s a big, happy family,” Russo says. “We have a lot of fun on the set. Robert is an incredible leader. He’s a very warm and inclusive human being. He’s great at keeping everyone’s spirits up on set and making everyone feel they’re invited into the process and make sure it’s a healthy creative space.” Downey has also been praised for the lunches he put together for the cast and crew. “Robert was leading the charge, making us socialize during lunch instead of heading back to the trailer,” recalls Karen Gillan (Nebula).
How then does one follow the worldwide phenomena that are the MCU films? “I’ve read in a magazine somewhere that the number one voted moment (in the MCU films) was the airport fight in ‘Civil War’ because so many of the heroes were there,” Downey says. “Now the universe has expanded even more and one thing the creative’s don’t want to do is do a bigger repeat of something that’s already worked well. The challenge this time was how do you top or better something that’s already been executed well before.”
The power and significance of “Infinity War” is already through the roof of Stark Tower, but there’s even more to it. “If Marvel’s been writing a book for the last 10 years with these movies, then infinity war is the last chapter of that book,” Russo explains. “Then there’ll be a new book written and that will be the next phase for Marvel.”
This is an extraordinary revelation, especially considering the mighty ride the MCU has been from “Iron Man” to the world-beating success of “Black Panther.” Buzz has been strong on the upcoming “Captain Marvel” film with Brie Larson in the costume. “There will be new stories to tell,” Russo says. “You start to intuit what the future of Marvel is going to look like. I think it’s going to be a lot more diverse and a lot more reflective of the global audience that supports these movies.” Tran adds: “Marvel has so many thousands of characters we haven’t explored yet. There are so many opportunities to open up a new chapter with new characters that the audience is looking forward to.”
But that all depends on what will happen in “Infinity War.” The parallels between what happens in the movie and how the movie was put together are staggering. The creators themselves can’t wait. Russo tells Super he was looking forward to “the response to the ending of 10 years of following the story we’re just excited to culminate this extraordinary experiment that is the Marvel Universe.”
It all comes together like powerful stones on a golden gauntlet: the universe’s 10 years, the impossible gathering of talent and a galaxy of people waiting for what comes next. “I think these movies have a global appeal,” Joe Russo says of the “Avengers: Infinity War” audience around the world. “People have been following these movies for the past ten years and they have a lot of emotional investments in these characters and the story. This is it. This is the ending. This is exciting for them because there is a sense of closure and new beginnings.”
Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” opens in cinemas on April 25.