After an eternity of waiting, Avengers: Age of Ultron is finally about to hit theatres… so naturally, the fanboys are already looking ahead to what comes next. Those disappointed that Joss Whedon has declined to direct the two-part Avengers: Infinity War should rejoice that the movies will at least be left to the capable hands of Anthony and Joe Russo, both of whom helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier to critical acclaim.
Marvel have been planning this event for years, and so everything which came before has been leading up to one final colossal showdown with Thanos, the Mad Titan. This fight is unlikely to take up the entirety of two movies though and Whedon recently let slip that Thanos may not be alone in his battle against the Avengers:
“A lot of people were surprised that Thanos wasn’t the villains in Avengers 2, but he was never meant to be,” Joss told Vulture. “He was always meant to be the puppet-master until he was done doing that, and then he’ll be the big villain they face off with. Not solely – I’m sure there’ll be plenty more [villains] in that monstrous epic, because one thing Marvel doesn’t do is string a story out into two movies that shouldn’t be two movies. They’ll give you two big movies. I feel like we got two movies into this one!”
Whether these extra villains will only appear briefly or ultimately play an integral part in Thanos’s plans is still unclear at present, but it’s likely that some previous heavy hitters such as Loki, The Collector or even the Red Skull will return for a rematch with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. However, fans are always keen to see new comic book characters adapted for live action and it’s doubtful that the Russo brothers would just play it safe and rely solely on recycled villains.
It gets lonely fighting self righteous super heroes on your own, so who else should join Thanos in the final battle against the Avengers? Read on to discover our five top picks and if you have anymore great ideas, please let us know in the comments section below.