avengers infinity war

The word of comics and the world of professional wrestling have one big thing in common: nothing is better than seeing two of your favorite characters duke it out in a highly anticipated battle royale. The MCU is no different: it’s exciting to think about our favorites finally getting the chance to team up, but what if they fight each other instead? Batman v. Superman was a little anticlimactic in that regard, but Captain America: Civil War really made it difficult to choose sides when half of the Avengers turned against the other half. Vin Diesel seems to think another battle between two very large team members might happen onscreen: Groot vs. Hulk.

Avengers: Infinity War has already started filming, at least some preliminary test shots, but that doesn’t mean The Meetings have stopped. Bringing a multiple-volume comic arc this nuts to the big screen has got to be complicated, and with characters being added and replaced and showing up in the movie even if they weren’t in the comics, it’s going to take a lot of planning and redrafting to get the story down to two 2-hour (plus a little bit, probably) screenplays. This afternoon, Marvel co-president Louis D’Esposito posted a photo on Twitter today of one of the Infinity Gauntlet covers, hinting at some plot details for the upcoming movies.

While there are any number of things to love about this weekend’s theatrical release of Arrival — and we do offer a few of them in our review of the film  —  one thing that doesn’t always find its way into the buzz is the career rehabilitation of Jeremy Renner. Renner has spent so much time the past few years playing interchangeable action figures that we almost forgot his talent as an actor. It’s been a long time since he’s been this likable.

Doctor Strange hits theaters next week, introducing Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — along with some mysticism and a handful of otherworldly dimensions (and their threats). Ahead of the film’s release date, we learned that Cumberbatch will reprise his role for Avengers: Infinity War, and according to the actor, he might just be the thing that helps get the team back together following the events of Civil War.

Nothing gums up the works during a high-profile film shoot quite like looky-loos poking around the set. When a big-name production gets up and going, the goal is to attract as little outside attention as possible, leading many crews to adopt “working titles” that conceal the true nature of the project. Most famously, George Lucas shot Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi under the codename “Blue Harvest” in an effort to give his legions of fans the slip. Christopher Nolan, perhaps in an effort to evade Batman geeks and summon Gilmore Girls geeks in one fell swoop, worked on The Dark Knight using the title “Rory’s First Kiss.” More recently, one of the production designers for Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters informed me during an interview that the remake shot as “Flapjack” while on set in Massachusetts.

We’ve known for about a month that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange would be appearing in Avengers: Infinity War, but with little else to go on, the size and scope of Strange’s appearance were left to speculation. Now it appears that a second character from Doctor Strange has found their way into the cast as well, increasing the likelihood that Doctor Strange will stick around for more than just a Wolverine-esque cameo.

We’ve yet to see Hope Van Dyne make her on-screen debut in the Wasp suit, but don’t expect it to happen in the form of a cameo. Evangeline Lily’s character didn’t make an appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ leading fans to wonder just when the character would suit up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most likely place we’d catch up with her seemed to be ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ but it turns out we’ll have to wait a little bit longer.

It’s a well-known fact that both parts of the Avengers’ upcoming Infinity War one-two punch will unite essentially all of the heroes we’ve seen in the franchise thus far, including the Guardians of the Galaxy and maybe the Punisher (if Chris Pratt gets his way). So far, we hadn’t heard anything about how Doctor Strange will fit into the mix, even though his movie is the next big outing on Marvel’s slate this year. But now, Benedict Cumberbatch himself has all but confirmed that the Sorcerer Supreme will make an appearance in Infinity War.

As good as many of the Marvel movies have been  —  and they’ve been very, very good  —  perhaps my favorite part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is its complicated web of secrecy and lies. Each cast member has to be prepared to talk about Marvel movies at a moment’s notice, to speak to the entire design of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, without giving away proprietary information or giving entertainment reporters the wrong kind of soundbite. If Disney were smart, they would launch an Aaron Sorkin-produced television series about the politics of press junkets. I would watch the heck out of that.

With the huge successes of both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, Joe and Anthony Russo are back at it once again for Avengers: Infinity War, and today we have our first look at Josh Brolin as the villainous purple Titan Thanos. Well, kinda.