Who lives, who dies?
That’s the million-dollar question currently lingering over Avengers: Infinity War, Joe and Anthony Russo’s crossover that’s not so much a movie as it is a cinematic event. It’s also the first chapter in a two-part story, given the so-far untitled Avengers 4 is poised to put a bow on the whole Thanos saga – along with the current iteration of the MCU, if Kevin Feige is to be believed – come 2019.
And when it does, the studio’s character roster will be dramatically different to the one that’s helped define the Marvel Cinematic Universe hitherto. Speaking of which, if there’s another element of Infinity War that continues to fuel debate online, it’s who exactly we can expect to see in the film. Beyond the MCU stalwarts (see: Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, etc.), the Russos have been understandably coy when it comes to the official cast list. And though that’s still the case, the folks over at Comic Book Movie are here to help.
The outlet has “gone through every report, set photo, and rumour to gather up a list of every Marvel hero and villain expected to make an appearance” in the pic, and here’s what they’ve come up with:
- Korg
- Black Panther
- War Machine
- Pepper Potts
- Doctor Strange
- Wong
- Spider-Man
- Valkyrie
- Shuri
- Dr. Erik Selvig
- Nova Prime
- Star-Lord
- Iron Man
- Hawkeye
- Vision
- Rocket
- Groot
- Bucky
- Corvus Glaive
- Ebony Maw
- Cull Obsidian
- Proxima Midnight
- Happy Hogan
- Falcon
- Loki
- Hulk
- Okoye
- Scarlet Witch
- Mantis
- Thor
- Gamora
- Black Widow
- Drax
- Captain America
- Sharon Carter
- Nebula
- Maria Hill
- Ant-Man
- Sif
- The Collector
- Thanos
Still with us? Good, as there’s a few things to point out here. Firstly, there does seem to be a few individuals who were left off this list. For instance, Everett K. Ross, Captain Marvel, Ned and M’Baku are all rumored to be involved and given that CBM is essentially just naming everyone who’s ever been mentioned in the same breath as the film, they should be included here.
It’s also important to note that even if all of these characters do end up showing their face, Infinity War obviously won’t be giving each one a starring, or even sizable role. We imagine that most will appear for only a scene or two. Even if that’s the case, though, there are certainly a lot of heroes/villains involved here and we can’t even imagine how chaotic it must have been on set juggling everything. Not to mention what a difficult job the Russos had in regards to ensuring that the plot and action is clear and easy to follow throughout, which was no doubt tremendously challenging with so many characters involved.
Were they able to pull it all off, though? We’ll find out quite soon, as Avengers: Infinity War drops on May 4th, 2018. Soon after that, the MCU will swing its doors open to Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel, the first female-fronted Marvel film, before Avengers 4 ties a bow around Phase 3 in 2019.