Avengers: Infinity War (Joe & Anthony Russo, April 27, 2018) Movie

Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled Avengers sequel are upcoming American superhero films based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney. They are intended to be the sequels to The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), with Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled Avengers sequel serving as the nineteenth and twenty-second films and culmination of the first 3 phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Both films are scheduled to be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, with screenplays by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, and feature an ensemble cast composed of many of the actors who have appeared in previous MCU films.

Avengers: Infinity War - April 27th, 2018
Untitled Avengers Sequel - May 3rd, 2019

After watching the massive Avengers: Infinity War [part one], are you intrigued by the comics that inspired this cinematic event? The comic book thread has put together some recommendations to help guide your journey. Check 'em out, and then jump into the comic book thread if you have questions (or want more comic recommendations of any kind). We love helping new readers navigate the weird and wonderful world of comics!

Avengers vs Thanos
Writer: Jim Starlin, various
Artist: various
Buy from InStockTrades or Amazon.
This is an over-sized collection, consisting of older issues from various series, including Avengers and Iron Man. The book has the first appearances, origins, and major storylines for Thanos, Gamora, and Drax. While my favorite part of this collection is Warlock and his stories, you should read this for the big battle between the Avengers and Thanos if you want to prepare yourself for the movie. This focuses more on the cosmic side. There’s Infinity Gauntlet, but this is a supplement and shows most of everything that happened before it. I love this collection, and I recommend it to everyone that asks for a new Marvel book to read or even just likes sci-fi. - @xapplexpiex

Infinity Gauntlet
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artist: George Pérez, Ron Lim
Buy from InStockTrades or Amazon.
Jim Starlin had his work cut out for him with the fantastic miniseries Infinity Gauntlet. George Pérez and Ron Lim are on art for the miniseries, and they do a great job considering just how many heroes and villains they have to draw throughout the six issues. This story brings the Marvel universe together in a way that not many comics have. Even though we don't see a lot of these characters in Avengers: Infinity War due to character rights being spread out, it's still worth the read. You'll get an in-depth look at what goes on with Thanos. He's in love, and it might be the one thing that makes him mortal. This is a cosmic event for the ages. Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock have big roles before they bring in the big guns. This is one you won't regret reading. - @Deanna

New Avengers: Everything Dies
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Steve Epting
Buy from InStockTrades or Amazon.
"Everything dies." These are the first words of this demoralizing story, in which a secret society of Marvel greats like Black Panther, Iron Man, and Reed Richards struggle with how far they can go to save their world. As other realities' earths threaten to collide with theirs (for grand, unknown reasons), are they justified in using the Infinity Gauntlet to protect themselves? Are they justified in destroying an entire world? - @Tim

Infinity
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: various
Buy from InStockTrades or Amazon.
For many of you, Avengers: Infinity War is so exciting because it is the culmination of a decade’s worth of films, interweaving threads from 18 different films. It promises to be nothing short of epic. It is fitting, then, that the film borrows several elements from Infinity, a comic that was, in many ways, a culmination of Jonathan Hickman’s work writing for Marvel, as it ties together his work Avengers (collected in thesethreetrades, or this oversized hardcover) and New Avengers (collected in the "Everything Dies" trade above), as well as elements of his Fantastic Four run. In Infinity, the Avengers fight a war on two fronts.

First, the Builders, seen first in Hickman’s inaugural Avengers arc, have an armada that is tearing its way through the galaxy on a path to earth. Captain America gathers a collection of heroes to travel off world to meet the armada in an epic space battle. Iron Man stays behind with a small group of heroes to act as a contingency plan in case Cap and his team should fail. Meanwhile, Thanos and his five generals, the Black Order, have been razing planets until they agree to his terms: hand over all of the children of a certain age so that Thanos may kill them. Thanos, you see, is trying to locate and kill a lost son. Thanos learns that earth is, essentially, undefended, and heads for the planet in search of his son.

It is, in a word, epic. There are massive space battles, incredible acts of heroism, and several concepts that make it into the film (like the Black Order). So if you are jazzed after Infinity War, the logical next is step is this comic. You won’t be sorry. - @scottlechowicz
(If you really want to commit to this awesome epic, consider forking over the cash for this omnibus, which collects all the above Avengers, New Avengers, and Infinity material by Hickman, and more into one massive hardcover volume!)

Thanos vol. 1: Thanos Returns & vol. 2: The God Quarry
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Mike Deodato, German Peralta
Buy vol. 1 from InStockTrades or Amazon.
Buy vol. 2 from InStockTrades or Amazon.
Jeff Lemire’s two volumes of his Thanos run gives us a Thanos that, while still as fierce as ever, has now been stricken with a terminal illness. Lemire does a very nice job giving us moments where we begin to feel for Thanos just before we remember how horrible and cruel a being he truly is. In addition to that, we are treated with a twisted family affair that provides its own fun twists and turns from one volume to the next. Now, if you’re expecting Avengers vs Thanos battles, you won’t find them here, but the Avengers do show up for a brief fun moment that I won’t spoil.

These two volumes are certainly not perfect. While the art is good in both volumes, I found the art in volume one to be more interesting and personally don’t enjoy when in the midst of the same storyline the art style changes. There are also some detours in character moments in volume two that feel unnecessary. However, despite some issues and not being among the stronger efforts by Lemire, these two volumes still provide an interesting look at who Thanos is to others, and to himself.

Lastly, I found both volumes very accessible for someone who had no prior knowledge of some of the worlds and characters within the story. If you're looking for an easy to jump into, solid, personal story about Thanos with great and brutal action, then dive in to Lemire’s fall and rise tale, of Thanos. - @BackyardHero11

Fun facts:
- The production budget for both films will be $1 billion, $400 million going to just the actors.
- Both movies will be filmed entirely with IMAX 2D cameras, making them the first non-documentary films to do so.
- Infinity War is in post-production
- The Sequel is in post-production

Confirmed characters:
* - character is in both films
! - confirmed for Infinity War
x - confirmed for Untitled Sequel

* Josh Brolin as Thanos
* Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark / Iron Man
* Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk
* Tom Hiddleston as Loki
* Chris Evans as Steve Rodgers / Captain America
* Chris Hemsworth as Thor
* Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
* Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord
* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
* Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
* Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange
* Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
* Paul Bettany as Vision
! Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
! Benedict Wong as Wong
*Zoe Saldana as Gamora
*Karen Gillan as Nebula
* Vin Diesel as Groot
* Bradley Cooper as Rocket
* Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer
* Pom Klementieff as Mantis
* Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
* Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
x Evangeline Lilly as Hope Dyne / Wasp
* Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther
* Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
x Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel
* Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon
! Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / Collector
* Don Cheadle as Rhodes / War Machine
! Danai Gurira as Okoye
! Letitia Wright as Shuri
! Winston Duke as M'Baku
x Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
x Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan
x Tessa Thompson as Valkeyrie

 

*follows thread*

 

Good guess as to what the budget is for this? $300 million? 400-500 million?

 

I know the Defenders won't be a big part, if in there at all but I feel it'd be a missed opportunity to not show them in the background saving people during a battle or reacting to whatever destruction Thanos is going to cause at least.

 

The budget for both films will be $1 billion, $400 million going to just the actors.

 

Damnnnn; can't image what the marketing budget itself is going to be.

 

Doctor Strange Will Be in Avengers: Infinity War

 

Honestly if every character from the films weren't in this, it'd be a terrible terrible decision.

The real question is are they going to do the right thing and have the Defenders in there, if not only for cameos.

 

Are they filming these at the same time?

 

Avengers 3 and 4? I think so. I remember reading that Chris Evans is booked for 9 months to shoot both films at once. That came out before Civil War was out, which was spoilers that he didn't die I guess lol.

 

I can't imagine thinking that the Defenders will be in these films, nor do I want that. I'd love to see Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, or some of the Agents of SHIELD worked into a film at some point, but shoehorning any of them into a film this scale, while potentially cool, feels like a waste. Plus, with how movie schedules work vs television schedules, it'd be hard to work out. Just accept that the Defenders world doesn't directly impact the current Avengers world.

 

With the scale of this film though, it wouldn't make sense for them to pop in to help out a bit when everything starts to go down?

 

We don't know how everything "goes down," though, and comic book film history shows that assuming too much based on source material specifics is a mistake.

 

That is very very true. As comic book movies go, I'd assume Thanos will have an army of some sort for all the characters to fight and if that's the case, show the defenders helping out if only in the back ground without speaking lines.

That being said, you are correct that we don't know how the story will play out.

 

If they stick close to the comic I believe most, if not all of the defenders were killed when Thanos snapped his finger. I know Daredevil was for certain. Perhaps they could be in the first part for a bit and killed off before the sequel.

 

Oh, I don't expect anyone to die lol. This is Disney we are talking about, there are a ton of characters that have "died but not really" in the MCU. Only 2 characters (non villains) I can think of that have stayed dead....for now.

 

I expect alot of the heroes to be killed but then brought back by reversing time, similar to the comic. I could see Steve Rodgers dying for good in the final fight though.

 

I mean, they have to retire some characters some time due to actors age and contracts. A smart way would be to have Vision die and for that and her brother's death causing her to do a House of M style story for the next Avengers. That could be a good way to have a reboot, clearing out what they need to make way for the new.

 

I thought it was established that it wasn't going to be a sequel anymore.

 

If I remember correctly, after they planned out as a two parter the directors changed their minds and said instead both films would be stand alones. For as much time and money goes into planning shooting schedules, I think they are still planning on shooting all at once even though it's not a part 1 and 2 anymore.

I think what they meant when it wasn't a part 1 and 2 isn't that the movies won't connect, but that it may not be a cliffhanger that leads you into part 2 directly, which makes sense if there are other solo movies coming out in-between the Avenger films.

I look it at like them trying to explain it's not going to be like Harry Potter Deathly Hollows part 1 and 2 that pick up asap after each other, but like the rest of the Potter films where it's a sequel that carries over the story but a new person might not be completely lost. I hope all of that makes sense since I rambled.

 

I'm pretty sure both films will focus on the conflict with Thanos and the infinity gems. They just want people to know they are individual films that can stand on their own so they did away with Part 1 and Part 2 in the title. Josh Brolin (Thanos) said he will be filming for both films so I assume Thanos will not be defeated in the first film.

 

I think they should go the Gauntlet/Wars route.

Thanos as the big bad in Gauntlet
Galactus as the big bad in War(I think a deal was brokered in secret)

 

I added Black Panther and Vision to the confirmed list.

 

There's an interesting rumor that Red Skull will emerge from the Tesseract stone and will appear in the films.

 

Vision is guaranteed to die. We know Thanos will collect all of the gems and the mind stone is in Vision's forehead. I only see one outcome from that.