BACK WITH A VENGEANCE
Expect superheroes galore as the blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War hits the big screen. So what’s all the hype about?
SURE, every new superhero movie is billed as the biggest and best yet. But this one really seems to top all those that came before – if only because of the sheer star power that appears on the silver screen. Hot on the heels of box-office recordbreaker Black Panther and all its worthy wonderfulness comes the film that’s been punted as the greatest superhero smackdown of them all.
Boasting a cast of more than 20 heroes – pretty much every Marvel superhero from the past decade – Avengers: Infinity War has sent fans into paroxysms of expectation.
The movie presold more tickets than the previous seven Marvel movies’ presales combined as fans made sure they had their seats secured to witness the spectacle as soon as it hit screens.
And who can blame them for being so excited?
The last time we saw (almost) all the Avengers assembled together was for a spectacular showdown in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which ended with the team disbanded. But there’s nothing like an alien invasion to get the band back together.
Here’s what to expect from the blockbuster to end all blockbusters.
THE MOVIE
Thanos ( Josh Brolin), an evil and very purple alien warlord, is headed to Earth with destruction on his mind and it’s up to Earth’s greatest heroes to put the brakes on his plans for galactic genocide.
Good news for Black Panther fans is that the Wakandan royal family and their allies feature prominently in this adventure, with a chunk of the action taking place in Wakanda.
The film was directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, who also helmed the past two Captain America films and will next shoot the fourth Avengers movie.
“This is one of the most complicated movies ever made in many ways,” Anthony says.
“No one has ever seen this many loved characters in a single film with this calibre of cast. Everybody brought their best collaborative energy to the project. Everybody sacrificed hard for the project.
“It’s not important only to us, it’s important to the audiences and everybody rose to the cause.”
CLOAKED IN MYSTERY
Secrecy around the film has been super-tight and only brief clips were released ahead of its US premiere to prevent twists and turns leaking out.
In fact, confidentiality was so crazily tight the cast were even given fake scripts initially, according to co-director Joe Russo.
“We put a lot of effort into making sure nobody knows the true story of the film,” he says. “All the actors were given fake scripts. Very few people have seen the actual film.
“It’s probably easier [ for the cast] to have read a fake script and a fake ending because they don’t have the pressure of knowing what happens in the movie and then having to hide it.”
Paul Bettany, who plays the Vision, confirmed the cast had rehearsed with scripts “that had fake scenes in it, fake twists in it, fake storylines”.
The actors received their real scripts only on the day of shooting, Paul says. “We were told, ‘All of that stuff you read? That’s not what happens!’ ” the actor says. “Then we had to kind of deal with it from there.”
MISSING IN ACTION
There’s no sign of spymaster Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), last seen in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and others notably absent from the posters and trailers are Hawkeye ( Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly).
Hawkeye, the directors have teased, does have a key part to play but there’s a reason he hasn’t been spotted yet.
Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) is also not in this movie but may put in an appearance in the next Avengers film.
THE INFINITY STONES
Five of these six colourful stones have popped up in Marvel movies, each representing some kind of incredible power. Thanos wants to get them all and put them in his big shiny glove – the Infinity Gauntlet – which will give him unlimited power.
Three of the stones are out in the cosmos, as seen in Avengers, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy, and two are still on Earth. Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has one in his amulet and Vision has one in his forehead.
The location of the sixth is unknown, but given how much of the movie takes place in Wakanda, it’s the likely location of the Soul Stone. S
S Avengers: Infinity War is in SA cinemas now.