By It’s no secret to anyone following the Marvel Cinematic Universe that the two-part Avengers: Infinity War is going to be a massive blowout to cap off the shared franchise as it currently exists, the likes of which we’ve never seen before and whatnot. Thanks to directors Joe and Anthony Russo, we have an idea of just how big the big finale is going to be and just how massive the cast will be: 67 total characters will appear, if they’re to be believed.
“We have so many characters we’re dealing with,” the Russos said at Wizard World New Orleans. “We’re breaking ground on Avengers: Infinity War. We have a board with 67 characters on it.”
Sixty-seven. Sixty-freakin’-seven. Granted, that could just be an off the cuff remark and not an exact number, but for the sake of argument, let’s presume it isn’t. That seems a little ungainly, even for a combined four hours (and some change) worth of movie. That said, if you tally up the established MCU characters that could, theoretically, be called to appear – including TV properties like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Jessica Jones, and Daredevil – there are definitely enough characters to get you to magic 67. That said, to get there you need to factor in supporting cast for individual movies, as well as the heavy hitters. Of course, that doesn’t mean we should necessarily count on every secondary character from every solo flick to pop up – there are sure to be new characters introduced in Infinity War itself, not to mention new ancillary characters in Phase Three films like Black Panther and Doctor Strange.
So, sure, the math more or less checks out, but that’s not really an issue. Can even Avengers – the franchise that proved it’s entirely possible to take characters from six other franchises and cram them into one movie and actually work – effectively service that many characters to any degree of satisfaction? Logistically, that’s a huge number of characters to service, and it seems unlikely that even half of them will get to do more than stand around in the background or perhaps get a brief moment to shine by way of a quip or a battle sequence. If you’re going to call in, say, Gwenyth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts or Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym and have them stand around in the background or offer up a single line of dialogue, what’s the point? (Though maybe that’s a step better than awkwardly-written dialogue explaining their absence.)
It’ll be a little while until we find out; Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 doesn’t hit theaters May 4, 2018, with Part 2 dropping almost exactly a year later on May 3, 2019. Until then, comic book nerds may get an early taste at what a movie with way too many characters looks like when Captain America: Civil War drops on May 6.
[via Coming Soon]