Supervillain has eye on Avengers
More evil is in store for superhero gang
The Avengers protected New York City during an epic alien invasion and staved off a psychopathic robot determined to wipe out humanity. But the biggest threat for Earth’s mightiest heroes is up next: a cosmic supervillain with a mystical glove that potentially holds the power to destroy the galaxy.
Avengers: Infinity War, a twopart movie set for release in 2018 and 2019, continues the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that teams up fan favorites such as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).
“Infinity War will hopefully be the big payoff for (movies) that have been entertaining but held back by their status as appetizers before a future main course,” says Scott Beggs, managing editor of the website Film School Rejects.
The first Avengers, in 2012, has the biggest opening of all time with $207.4 million; No. 2 is Age
of Ultron at $191.3 million. “Everybody is so enamored with these characters right now,” and Infinity War “probably will be bigger than Age of Ultron,” says Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “It’s almost a super- Avengers.” Marvel has handed the Infinity
War reins to directors Anthony
and Joe Russo, who helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier
and the upcoming Captain Ameri
ca: Civil War (out Bettany May 6, 2016). reborn The sibling film
makers bring “a A voice
stellar sense of chargets a
acter development body 2D
that doesn’t require sacrificing big fight sequences,” Beggs says.
The upcoming films also bring one of the biggest Marvel bad guys to the fore. Seen briefly in
Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the purple-skinned Thanos (Josh Brolin) has tasked minions to track down the six Infinity Stones to mount together in his nifty Infinity Gauntlet.
To combat him, a bunch of new heroes will be introduced, from Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, each of whom has his own film coming.
Says Beggs, “They should need all the help they can get in bringing him down.”