THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE EXPANDS YET AGAIN
TALKING WITH THE STARS OF AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR JUST BEFORE IT BREAKS OUT ALL OVER THAILAND
“IIt’s fun. You feel more silly doing your superhero thing on your own,” said Benedict Cumberbatch to a group of Asian journalists. “Then when you’re doing it with other people watching you, especially if they’re Robert Downey Jr., you feel even more silly.”
Silly or fun, love it or hate it, the pop culture phenomenon is here. Ten years later and 18 films in tow, Avengers: Infinity War
— the intergalactic showdown of Marvel’s all-star superheroes — will hit Thai cinemas tomorrow (two days before US cinemas). One of the most anticipated films of 2018, Infinity War will be getting an insanely early showtime at some venues in Bangkok, starting as early as 6am and 3am (you read that right) for diehard fans in fear of spoilers.
This latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set two years following the events in Captain America: Civil War which saw the heroes going separate ways after a conflict between Iron Man (Downey) and Captain America (Chris Evans). Now, they reunite to take a stand against the powerful Thanos as he collects Infinity Stones to achieve his goal of galactic destruction.
The film features an ensemble cast that includes the Avengers, led by Downey, Evans, Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Tom Holland (SpiderMan), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and more; as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy, led by Chris Pratt (Star-Lord). Josh Brolin takes the role of the villain Thanos.
Life met up with some of the cast and crew in Singapore during their promotional tour. The cheers and applause were tremendous when Downey, Cumberbatch, Karen Gillan (Nebula), director Joe Russo and executive producer Trinh Tran arrived at the hall of Marina Bay Sands for the press conference.
On being a part of what is perhaps the biggest film of all time, Downey said: “We might be making the movies, but we’re also fans and we’re also critics of our own work and always want to try to make it better. I think this time we might’ve nailed it.”
The Iron Man actor praised his producer and director, saying they need to have their own action figures (as Gillan was delighted to have hers attached to her name plate) for being able to pull off such an ambitious project.
Packing so many A-listers in one film was a challenge the crew had to face, with Russo calling Infinity War “the most complicated movie in history to put together”.
“I think we shut down Hollywood for a year because every actor working in the business is scheduled somewhere in the movie,” joked Russo, who shared the directorial helm with his brother Anthony. The two have previously directed Captain America stories The Winter Soldier and Civil War.
With Marvel’s films continuing to gain positive reviews and become box office hits year after year — most recently, of course, Black Panther — and as we previously saw the superheroes’ airport showdown in Captain America: Civil War, the question remains in everyone’s mind as to how the team will top that, and whether we’ll see so many faces of the beloved characters all in one scene again. At this, Downey said that it was indeed challenging to expand on something without repeating what’s already been well executed.
“I call it the anti-process,” said Downey. “Usually, if something works, we’ll just keep doing it.”
Keeping his lips tight on details, Russo did reveal that fans will definitely get to see “a lot” of the heroes together in various scenes, crossing from one franchise to another. Their unique chemistry and combustible relationships will surely be interesting to witness on screen.
Fans were overjoyed to see heroes of different franchises side by side in previous teasers. And one of the pairs sharing screen time consisted of none other than Downey and Cumberbatch themselves — or the two Sherlocks, as some have dubbed them, the futuristic and the Oriental mystics. Will we be seeing a clash between the two? Cumberbatch answered first with a coy no before teasing about the characters’ trademark goatees.
“We do have a bit of a clash, and that’s no bad thing,” he admitted. “That’s something to enjoy in the film — without spoiling anything — to see how that relationship unfolds.”
Later, at the roundtable interviews with Cumberbatch and Gillan, the two cast members took turns sharing their experiences on set. Cumberbatch told us that he once fell “very ungracefully” on set while wearing his full Doctor Strange costume.
Gillan said it was interesting to see all the superheroes doing mundane things, like getting coffee or having domestic conversations between shots. “I’m never gonna get over that,” said the actress. “It was just so ridiculous to look at. And, I mean, I look ridiculous. I had my blue make-up on and my superhero costume.”
Gillan also revealed that she and other female co-stars once cornered Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel, following a photo shoot — and a few drinks — asking him to make an all-female Marvel superhero film.
“He seemed really into the idea! He was cornered by a lot of women,” Gillan laughed, adding that she’d love to be involved if that project ever got the green light.
The two then debated on what Infinity Stone they’d want to have, with Cumberbatch deciding between the Time and Space Stones, while Gillan opted for Power.
“It would be fun to be the strongest person in the universe for a minute,” she said.
Coming from standalone stories into a huge crossing-over of franchises, Gillan said that she’d only previously played the character of Nebula with director James Gunn in Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Having the character helmed instead by the Russo brothers took quite an adjustment.
“[Gunn] created these characters,” Gillan said, “and they very much feel like an extension of him in some way. They have his identity in there somewhere. So, to go off and play the character without him, I think we were all a little bit intimidated. However, then we walked onto the set and — working with the Russo brothers — immediately they had a new take on things. It was fresh. They knew so much about the character. So it felt like it was in safe hands.”
Russo said the Infinity War set was a big, happy family, as members of the cast and crew have been working together for the past decade. “It was a little bit like summer camp,” he said.
He and producer Tran then had a discussion on the future phase of MCU, and one of the things the Marvel filmmakers have in mind is the diversity of global audiences and how they plan to reflect that in future films. With thousands of Marvel characters in all walks of life, gender and race, the possibility is quite open for the team to reach into new territory.
Still to come in the MCU are Ant- Man and The Wasp (July), as well
as Captain Marvel (March 2019).
“We’re always pushing for more,” said Tran. “We have Captain
Marvel shooting right now and this will be our first female-led movie for Marvel. As we go from chapter to chapter and with more phases to come along, there will be more characters to explore and more properties around the franchise to create.”
Despite the rumours of some cast members (and their characters) retiring from the MCU, and with new characters and actors being added with each new film, Russo said he’s not concerned that the possible departure of familiar faces will affect the popularity of future films.
“Two words: Black Panther,” he said easily.
“As long as we tell a good story, I think audiences will grasp and really emotionally invest in the characters that we create,” added Tran.
AS WE GO FROM CHAPTER TO CHAPTER AND WITH MORE PHASES TO COME ALONG, THERE WILL BE MORE CHARACTERS TO EXPLORE