Behind the scenes of Infinity War
Mark Daniell takes a peek behind the scenes for the upcoming Avengers movie
Talk about an assembly. A few days before Christmas at Pinewood studios in Atlanta, directors Joe and Anthony Russo were in the final weeks of their year-long shoot on Avengers: Infinity War and next year’s untitled Avengers 4.
The set was shrouded in secrecy, but Postmedia was among a group of journalists invited to meet with some of the cast and crew.
The culmination of an interconnected series of films Marvel started in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Infinity War and its sequel will close out an unprecedented 22film narrative arc.
It brings together pretty much every hero featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and pits them against Thanos (Josh Brolin) — one of the most fearsome villains in the MCU. He’s an antagonist the studio has been teasing since 2012’s Avengers.
“You couldn’t just have any old standard villain,” Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord, says on a break from shooting. “You have to have the one villain who had access to every story and touched every (hero’s) storyline.”
After the untitled Avengers 4, Marvel plans to usher in a new slate of films spearheaded by a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. Marvel will release at least seven superhero films between 2020 and 2022. One thing is certain: Fans will say goodbye to some favourites.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said the blueprint of story ideas goes well beyond 2023.
“It’s nerve-racking,” says Chris Evans (Captain America). “But Marvel really knows what they are doing. It’s all one big arc. Everything ’s moving toward the same endgame.”
The scene we were allowed to watch involved a battle. We can’t say who was present, what we saw or even what the heroes look like. But there was enough excitement to leave us hungering to see it all in theatres when Infinity War opens April 27. Here’s what we learned:
HOW DO GUARDIANS FIT IN?
When we spoke to Pratt last spring, he said fans have been hungering to see the Guardians of the Galaxy meet with the Avengers.
“I was never sure how that would happen or if that would happen,” Pratt said.
In December, Pratt shed some light on what role the Guardians will play in Infinity War.
“I’m a cameo in this movie. I get to be a dash of flavour and we get to bring some of the Guardians’ flavour to this movie.”
Ultimately, this is an Avengers movie. “When you’re a guest star … you get to be a little more vibrant; a little more irreverent; a little bit more colourful if you want it to be.”
NO SCRIPTS FOR YOU
Spider-Man star Tom Holland is notorious for not being able to keep a secret. Last summer, he said Marvel wouldn’t allow him to read the entire script for Infinity War.
It turns out that edict held true for many on the Infinity War set.
“It’s terrifying,” says Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch). “I’ll literally show up on set and I will have just got the pages that morning.”
“We’re all in the same boat,” says Karen Gillan (Nebula). “We’re getting the pages hot from the printer.”
‘STAKES HAVE NEVER BEEN HIGHER’
Everyone involved in the making of Infinity War and Avengers 4 can feel the weight of the expectations of millions of fans.
“The stakes have never been higher,” Pratt says. “(Thanos) has got the Infinity Gauntlet ... I don’t want to give away too much, but I think if you’ve read the (comic book) series, you know what’s at stake.”
“Storylines that were started 10 years ago are now going to be relevant,” Gillan says. “If you’re in any way a Marvel fan, you will come out of the theatre just so satisfied with what you’ve seen.”
WAKANDA OPENS THE DOORS
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler said he didn’t have to do much to set up Infinity War. “I wasn’t allowed to kill off a character that might be in Infinity War,” and other than that he had free reign.
But the secretive, technologically advanced African country will play a pivotal role in bringing together all realms of the MCU.
“(Wakanda) opens up a new place for the Avengers to fit,” says Chadwick Boseman, who plays Black Panther/King T’Challa.
“I would say that (Wakanda) opens up a new space,” he pauses, “and that’s pretty much all I can say.”
THE HULK WILL LOSE HIS LAUGH
After being a comedic foil to the God of Thunder in Thor: Ragnarok, Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk, says this incarnation of the green-skinned hero will be more serious.
“We’re fighting Thanos, and that’s not funny,” Ruffalo says. “And, it’s the Russo brothers, so it’s not quite as comedic.”
But Ruffalo says the Hulk we meet in Infinity War will add another layer to his story.
“I’ve got to do this character in steps and this character has developed and changed over all these movies.”
IT’S ALL ABOUT THANOS
After teasing Brolin’s maniacal Thanos for the past six years, the cosmic villain will be front and centre for Infinity War.
Thanos, a.k.a. the Mad Titan, is on the hunt for the Infinity Stones — the Space Stone, the Reality Stone, the Power Stone, the Soul Stone and the Time Stone — in order to control and, in his twisted mind, save the universe. “Each of those Infinity Stones has touched a movie,” Pratt says. “So all of the movies have culminated and led toward this. (The 18 movies) over the past 10 years all come together to this point.”
EVERYONE GETS A CHANCE TO SHINE
During a conversation with Thor star Chris Hemsworth in January, he told us there were 76 characters in Infinity War. In an earlier interview with Pratt, he promised 40 heroes.
Depending whom you ask on the day we were there, there was either 22 heroes on set or 30.
But Don Cheadle (who plays James Rhodes — a.k.a. War Machine) assures us that each hero gets their time in the spotlight.
“Everybody really does feel like they get to have their moment,” he says.
THE DEATHS WILL BE SHOCKING
The battle with Thanos will cost some heroes their lives, and the stars are preparing themselves for some emotional goodbyes.
“It’s going to be messy,” Ruffalo says. “There’s going to be a lot of messes in the theatre ... Plus crying.”
Cheadle says there’s a sense of finality to these two Avengers films. “You do start looking back,” he says. “And you really do feel the sense of it kind of closing out.”
‘THE BIG FINALE’
As massive as Infinity War will be, next year’s Avengers 4 will be a landmark event.
“It’s all leading up to that fourth one,” Gillan says. “That’s the big finale, so I think of (these) as a cinematic event rather than a movie.”
“It’s like a fireworks display,” Pratt says. “You know how in a fireworks display there’s a big finale and sometimes you think, ‘I guess we’ll just start another fireworks show?’ This is like seeing a great fireworks show and (at the end) you’re thinking, ‘How the f--- did they do that?’ There’s a big finale at the end that gives you goosebumps ... That’s this movie. That’s this combination of movies.”