AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (12A)

DISNEY have been very busy signing up superheroes since Avengers Assemble, and now they’ve given the whole squad a run out.

Fans of the franchise should love seeing all their comic book faves wrapped up in one witty, action-packed and reliably spectacular package.

But casual viewers might find themselves feeling uncomfortably sympathetic with this film’s big baddie.

Josh Brolin’s purple warlord Thanos actually wants to save the universe. It’s his methods that pit him against the superhero tag team – he’s going to do it by culling half its population.

As Infinity War throws the major and minor characters from Guardians Of The Galaxy, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther and Doctor Strange into the mix, you can see his point.

Overcrowding is now the big threat to the Marvel “cinematic universe”. If they want to keep their older viewers onside, they need to hand out crib sheets or kill a few of them off. Directors the Russo Brothers don’t help by scattering their army of superheroes across the galaxy.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is set on a revenge mission with Thanos and his CGI flunkeys, while in New York, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) is reunited with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and starts exchanging wisecracks with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange.

As Thanos is seeking to reunite the magical “Infinity Stones” (a standard comic book movie plot device), Paul Bethany’s The Vision seems most at danger in any forthcoming cull. He had, as he helpfully reminded me, one of them imbedded in his bonce in a pivotal moment in 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron. As Thanos closes in on Earth we jump across various planets and more familiar faces come back into play. When Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord meets Thor, there’s some funny back and forth as he tries to ape his deep voice and dreadful English accent. There’s more fun when Spider-Man swings into action. Again, Tom Holland’s

FAB FOURSOME: The superheroes gather to do battle with Thanos, below webslinger provides some youthful enthusiasm to this ageing superhero supergroup.

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) has to be content with a smattering of lines but at least the big finale takes place in his kingdom of Wakanda.

As the story will only be concluded in next year’s Avengers 4, it felt like I was bingeing on half a box set than watching a movie.

But the spectacular action, the quip-heavy dialogue and Brolin’s soulful villain keeps this surprisingly nippy 149-minute adventure ticking over.