'Avengers: Infinity War' Will Feature 67(!) Different Characters

Last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron was a big, sprawling movie with a gigantic cast, and this year's Captain America: Civil War doesn't look much slimmer. But they may be small potatoes compared to Avengers: Infinity War. According to directors Joe and Anthony Russo, the two-part epic features a whopping 67 characters.

Of course, that doesn't mean all 67 characters will be equally prominent in Avengers: Infinity War, and the directors indicate that it'll be an opportunity for some of the "supporting Avengers" to come to the forefront. Like, perhaps, Black Widow — the Russos, apparently, are among the many, many fans clamoring for a Black Widow standalone movie. Read all the Russo brothers Avengers: Infinity War comments after the jump. 

The Russos have been making the rounds at Wizard World New Orleans. "We have so many characters we're dealing with. We're breaking ground on Avengers: Infinity War," Joe Russo told Comic Book Movie. "We have a board with 67 characters on it."

67 characters is a lot, even considering they'll have about 20 films and at least half a dozen TV shows to draw from by the time we get to the second Infinity War movie. Adding up the ten Avengers (as of Age of Ultron), the five Guardians, the four Defenders, and various other major characters (e.g., Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, etc.) only gets us into the 30s — and that's assuming all of those characters will actually report for duty in Infinity War, which hasn't been confirmed.

Bringing the entire MCU together also affords the Russos an opportunity to shake up the roster a little bit, building up some of the new Avengers and possibly getting rid of some others. Joe Russo explains:

Everything is finite, right? Nothing can last forever. It's cyclical. Some New Avengers in phase 4 are going to become prominent and then maybe some Avengers might not be around anymore. So, we'll see how all this plays out but you have to treat every character with respect. I think it's interesting that if you've seen four or five movies with the lead character having an arc, I want to see some story telling from some of the secondary characters. We're focusing on that right now with Infinity War while we're breaking into those movies, is which characters can we pull to the forefront who potentially haven't had their own 'A' story arc to this point. I think you'll see that the supporting Avengers are going to become primary Avengers.

There are plenty of major MCU players who haven't had the chance to headline their own films, including Nick Fury, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. But Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is perhaps the most prominent and popular of the non-headlining Avengers. For years now, fans have been hoping to see Black Widow break out with her own film, and the Russos say they'd be more than happy to make one.

"Hell, yeah," Joe Russo responded when asked whether they'd be up for helming a Black Widow film. "We love that character. We find that the character is one of the richest, if not the richest, character in the Marvel Universe. A very, very complex character, is haunted by demons. Her understanding of the world is fascinating, and I think there's a lot that can be done with that character."

Sadly, that Black Widow movie remains in the realm of fantasy for now. As of right now, we don't know of any serious plans for the studio to make one. But Avengers: Infinity War is certainly happening, and it'll land in theaters in two parts on May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019. Captain America: Civil War arrives May 6, 2016.