With Thor: Ragnarok quickly approaching, and looking to be one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s strongest efforts to date, might we add, it’s almost about time to start getting excited for the studio’s 2018 slate. And while projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Panther are certainly worth paying attention to, it’s undoubtedly Avengers: Infinity War that’s going to be hogging the lion’s share of the spotlight come next year.
Joe and Anthony Russo’s landmark event movie is currently on course for a release on May 4th, 2018, and it’ll herald the advent of Josh Brolin’s Mad Titan and his squadron of galactic accomplices. Yes, after much foreshadowing, we know Thanos to be the primary antagonist of the Russo Brothers’ ensemble piece, who wages an Infinity War to bring ‘balance’ back to the universe. Standing in his way are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, along with some of their newfound allies: Spider-Man, for one, along with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and even Loki, who appeared to be holding the Tesseract in that leaked teaser trailer.
Juggling such a huge ensemble cast is no mean feat, and Joe and Anthony Russo will be bringing all of their filmmaking experience to bear when orchestrating Marvel’s Infinity War. That crammed roll call has also led many to believe that a select handful of Earth’s Mightiest will actually bite the bullet when the lights go down in 2018, and that’s something Joe Russo all but confirmed while chatting to io9.
“You know, with Winter Soldier and with Civil War, my brother and I like stakes. We believe in stakes for these movies, we fight for stakes on these films, and I think people should be prepared for a very intense experience in both Avengers 3 and Avengers 4. And they should be prepared for some pretty big surprises.”
In a franchise that usually plays it pretty safe, and often doesn’t introduce any real stakes, it’s good to hear that the Russo brothers are looking to change all that with their next entry, or should we say entries, into the MCU. Whether they’ll actually make the bold move of killing off one of the core Avengers remains to be seen, but it’s probably safe to say that at least a few of the characters won’t make it out of Phase 3 alive.
It’s an event movie that is unlike any other, and we’ll be able to find out what all the fuss is about once Avengers: Infinity War descends upon theaters on May 4th, 2018. The fourth, so-far untitled Avengers movie will then release in May of 2019, by which point viewers will be acquainted with Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers and her ’90s-set origin story. March 8th, 2019 is the date for your diaries.