With Black Panther now in the rear view of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and making a ton of money at the box office), the time has come to look forward to the future of the MCU. Luckily for fans, the next blockbuster will be The Russo Brothers' highly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War. Ten years in the making, the new blockbuster will unite all of the shared universe's characters in the epic battle against Thanos, but how will it balance its massive ensemble cast? CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell spoke the Russo Brothers on the set of Infinity War, where they revealed how the action sequences are being approached with the big cast of characters, saying:
ANTHONY RUSSO: Everything's always got to be character based. We know we can't... if we're sitting in the editing room, watch the sequence for more than 20 seconds without a character having a point of view or moving the action forward, my brain just shuts down, or I start thinking about my laundry. The action for us, it's always character based.JOE RUSSO: In Winter Soldier, in terms of character based, Winter Soldier was so specifically for us, everything in that movie was designed around that version of Captain America that we wanted to see, that we wanted to explore. Everything in that film, all of the stylistic choices just flow from that. Civil War was a bit of an evolution, because even though it was a Captain America movie, we were bringing so many other characters into it, characters that had powers, that were different from the range of characters that we were using in Winter Soldier. And now it's even more so. So it's like, as the characters change, as their particular powers change the meter of who they are...ANTHONY: The chemistry changes.JOE: The chemistry, the style of our action evolves with that, because again it has to be specific to character.ANTHONY: It's dictated by who's in the sequence, what is the sequence about, what do the characters want in the sequence. Are we trying to create a sense of urgency, are we trying to slow it down, is it about tension, is it about ... aggression. So I think you'll see several different styles employed in the movie, because the chemistry is different in each sequence and the needs of each sequence are different.
It looks like The Russo Brothers aren't putting badass action sequences into Avengers: Infinity War just for kicks. They have a mass of different abilities to play with in the big battles, but the moments of action are going to be character based. The physical struggles will somehow echo the interpersonal issues that the character are having, therefore moving the story forward in a logical and emotional way.
The Russo Brothers' comments are sure to be a relief for hardcore comic fans out there. There is a certain expectation for fantastic action (which the MCU usually delivers), but there needs to be an emotional core as well. While playing with the myriad characters is no doubt a challenge for the Brothers, having such a large pool of characters to utilize will give them many emotional strings to pull at throughout the course of Infinity War and Avengers 4.
Indeed, the stakes are very high for most of the MCU's characters. For instance, Gamora and Nebula will finally rise up against their adoptive father Thanos during the conflict. Both Doctor Strange and Vision are in peril, as they each have Infinity Stones in their possession. Additionally, Steve Rogers will finally be reunited with a newly healed Bucky after fighting for his friend during the past two Captain America movies. There are some very emotional throughlines that will be weaved into Infinity War, which should stop the blockbuster from being a saturated action flick.
All will be revealed when Avengers: Infinity War arrives in theaters April 27, 2018. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
