Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War Part 1’ — Everything We Know So Far

The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 may not hit theaters until 2018, but the build-up to the epic blockbuster is unlike anything moviegoers have ever seen. With multiple movies setting the stage for Infinity War’s showdown, here’s what is known so far about 2018’s most-anticipated film.

First off, it appears this is Thanos’ universe. Or so he wants it to be. But in order to achieve unlimited power, Thanos must first collect all six Infinity Stones, which fit nicely into the Infinity Gauntlet. However, Thanos currently has zero stones in his possession, which are the Mind Stone, now located in Vision’s forehead, Space Stone or Tesseract from The Avengers film, the Reality Stone a.k.a the Aether from Thor: The Dark World, and lastly the Power Stone, or the Orb from Guardians from the Galaxy.

Movie Pilot reminds fans that only those four stones are accounted for, and the last two could potentially be in the hands of Thanos already. However, with the four other stones relatively safe and guarded, it’s assumed that Thanos will be battling the Avengers, who will attempt to stop the warlord from taking over the galaxy.

So, who will those Avengers be that are trying to stop Thanos? According to Cinema Blend, Captain America should be returning after the super soldier’s upcoming Captain America: Civil War film. Of course, the comics have Captain America dying as a result of the events of Civil War, but since Chris Evans has one more movie on his contract after Civil War, it seems unlikely that the films will follow the comic storyline to a T.

Suiting up next to Captain America will be Iron Man. Despite being an antagonist to Steven Rogers in the upcoming Civil War, Robert Downey Jr. signed a contract years ago to be in a third Avengers film.

Along with the Captain and Iron Man, Thor will also be returning for both Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2. However, it should be noted that the third film in the Thor series is titled Thor: Ragnarok. The Norse word basically means that the apocalypse will be hitting Asgard, Thor’s home. And if you read up on the legend of Ragnarok, apparently, the epic apocalypse is the death of Odin, Loki, and other gods, including Thor. But if Thor does dethrone Loki, and survive Ragnarok, then he surely will aid in the protecting earth from Thanos.

And what kind of Avengers movie would it be without a giant green monster smashing his way through, um, everything? While it technically hasn’t been confirmed that the Hulk will be in Infinity War, according to Cinema Blend, Marvel has said in the past that it likes to save the Hulk specifically for Avenger movies.

Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) will also be returning in the fan-favorite role. Along with the Avengers films, Black Widow has also become a staple in the Captain America movies and will play a vital role in Captain America: Civil War.

Other characters slated for a return are Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver (not exactly sure how, since he died in Age of Ultron) with newbies The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther, and possibly even Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp.

With Comic Book revealing that directors Joe and Anthony Russo recently claimed a new number of Marvel characters will be appearing in the Infinity War films, could that new number include the Guardians of the Galaxy?

The Russo’s said that 68 distinct characters will be featured in the film, not 67. That’s quite a tall order, so it only makes sense that the Guardians could be somewhere on that list. Other possible crossovers to make it onto the Infinity Wars set is Netflix’s Defenders, which could include Jessica Jones, reveals Cheat Sheet.

With so many characters being introduced through separate movies such as Ant-Man, and Age of Ultron, Movie Pilot believes another character that has been with the franchise since the first Iron Man kicked things off for the Marvel franchise back in 2008 is Lt. Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes. But Rhodey appears to have a bigger role in Civil War than previous movies, making some believe he to will appear in Infinity War, under the name War Machine.

Make sure to keep up with all the storylines in the Marvel universe when Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6, 2016.

Tell us! Are there any Marvel characters you want to see appear in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1? Let us know in the comments and check out the latest trailer for Civil War below, which includes a special appearance by Spider-man.

[Image via Marvel Studios]