'Avengers: Infinity War' Will Transcend The Genre, Claims Chris Pratt
Avengers: Infinity War is a movie 10 years in the making, built up over the course of many movies and six TV shows. So anticipation was already high for the denouement of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or at least this current iteration of it.
But Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 star Chris Pratt has even higher praise for the movie that will see the Avengers teaming up with the Guardians and meeting the ultimate Big Bad: Thanos (Josh Brolin).
When Iron Man first launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2008, Infinity War was barely a twinkle in Kevin Feige's eye. But since then, the Marvel Studios president has crafted a meticulous and unprecedented expanded universe that spanned several movies, decades and "Phases." And it was all leading up to the climactic battle that Avengers: Infinity War would kick off.
Pratt and the stars of Guardians of the Galaxy are currently shooting Avengers: Infinity War, which sees the group of space misfits finally be teaming up with the members of the Avengers — but not before they butt heads. Production is expected to wrap sometime in June or July, after which the cast will immediately roll into filming the still-untitled Avengers 4.
Pratt teased the grand scale and importance of the third Avengers movie in an interview with the Toronto Sun.
"I think this sequel transcends the genre in a way. It's a deep motion picture and something different than just a big spectacle film. There's a difference between dime-store novels and literature and this is like literature. It's going to stand the test of time. It's maybe this decade's movie, if not a longer period of time."
Those are big words. The "movie of our decade" is high praise. Comparing a superhero movie to literature may be even higher. Now Pratt isn't someone who's known to mince his words — though at least he doesn't make sweeping claims about spin-off movies like Vin Diesel — so he may just be hyping up a movie that he's currently working on, and is caught up in the scale of it all. But with all the build-up to this movie, and all the mythology and characters who have been developed up until now, maybe Pratt isn't far off.
A superhero movie overflowing with heroes, villains and mythos isn't usually a good recipe for a successful comic book film — just look at Marvel's own Avengers: Age of Ultron — but Infinity War directors Anthony and Joe Russo have knocked it out of the park with Captain America: Civil War, which was almost oversaturated with heroes. They've given depth and complexity to all the characters in both their Captain America movies, and The Winter Soldier is arguably the best Marvel movie yet. It's a lot of pressure to follow up to their own high standards, but if anyone can "transcend the genre" as Pratt claims, the Russo brothers can.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters May 5, 2017. Avengers: Infinity War is set to be released May 4, 2018.