"Avengers: Infinity War" makes its predecessors seem like small potatoes. The 19th film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it combines nine franchises and more than 30 major characters. Audiences now have a decade's worth of people and plot points to keep track of, beginning with 2008's "Iron Man," and retaining that much information would be a superhuman ability in itself.
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What's going to happen?
Marvel's official synopsis: "As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain."
- marvel.com
A decade of heroes
The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, back when no one knew there would be such a thing, was "Iron Man," released 10 years ago on May 2, 2008. It became such a surprisingly big hit (the No. 2 movie of the year) that a sequel was approved immediately.
- Marvel Studios
Who's in the movie?
Short answer: The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Longer answer: While the first "Avengers" movie brought together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk along with side characters from those movies, this new film adds in more characters from those heroes' sequels as well from "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Doctor Strange," "Spider-Man" and "Black Panther."
- marvel.com
Who is this Thanos character?
Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, is the giant purple-hued super-villain we first met for a brief second at the end of "The Avengers" in 2012. We've seen him a couple of times since, always with hints of his ultimate big-bad stature, and after six years we finally get to see the Avengers take on this power-hungry world-destroyer as he tries to finish collecting the infinity stones.
- marvel.com
What are the infinity stones, and what do they do?
They're the half-dozen shiny objects seen in multiple Marvel films that bad guys want and heroes protect. For example, one can open wormholes in space (the Tesseract, stolen by Loki a couple of times); another can manipulate minds (it's now in the forehead of Vision); still another controls time, and it's hanging from the neck of Doctor Strange (pictured).
- marvel.com
What happens if Thanos collects all of the stones?
If Thanos can obtain these stones (there's the one in Vision's forehead) and bedazzle his "gauntlet" glove with them, he can supposedly destroy about half of the universe "with a snap of his fingers," according to his daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana in the "Guardians" movies).
- marvel.com
This sounds bad; are our heroes in danger?
It's not good. The official "Avengers: Infinity War" website says the movie "brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers must be willing to sacrifice all" to defeat Thanos. Internet speculation about who might not make it out alive is running rampant.
- marvel.com
The running time and the rating
This will be the longest Marvel movie to date, with an estimated running time of more than 2 hours, 30 minutes. The official MPAA rating is PG-13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references."
- marvel.com
The box-office will be big, but will it be "Black Panther" big?
All Marvel films are blockbuster hits, but the biggest MCU hit had been 2012's "The Avengers" at more than $623 million. Then along came "Black Panther" in February, and it's the new No. 1, heading for $700 million. Most prognosticators believe "Infinity War" will pass it, beginning with a weekend start of $225 million or more. ©Marvel Studios 2018
- Marvel Studios
Why is the movie opening in April?
Disney moved up the North American release date by a week from May 4, matching it up with the opening-day release in the rest of the world, for multiple reasons. Among them: to avoid a week's worth of spoilers from international audiences; a chance to have the biggest global opening weekend in history; and, after seeing how "Black Panther" has performed for two months, this gives Disney another week of breathing room before its next mega-hit — "Solo: A Star Wars Story" — opens May 25.
- marvel.com
The biggest budget in history
Disney hasn't revealed an exact figure, but the filming of both this "Avengers" movie and the next one at the same time has a reported combined budget of between $750 million to $1 billion. That would be a record.
- marvel.com
What are the next movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
The next three are: the sequel "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (stars pictured here) on July 6; Oscar-winner Brie Larson starring as "Captain Marvel" on March 8, 2019; and the currently untitled fourth "Avengers" movie, set for May 3, 2019. Marvel Studios
- Marvel Studios
14 things you should know about 'Avengers: Infinity War"
"Avengers: Infinity War" brings all of its heroes and a fair number of villains together for a be-all and end-all cinematic event that goes beyond blockbuster status. The secrets of the new movie are being kept close, but here's what we know so far, which is what you need to know before watching.
By the Tulsa World
What's going to happen?
Marvel's official synopsis: "As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain."
- marvel.com
A decade of heroes
The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, back when no one knew there would be such a thing, was "Iron Man," released 10 years ago on May 2, 2008. It became such a surprisingly big hit (the No. 2 movie of the year) that a sequel was approved immediately.
- Marvel Studios
Who's in the movie?
Short answer: The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Longer answer: While the first "Avengers" movie brought together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk along with side characters from those movies, this new film adds in more characters from those heroes' sequels as well from "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Doctor Strange," "Spider-Man" and "Black Panther."
- marvel.com
Who is this Thanos character?
Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, is the giant purple-hued super-villain we first met for a brief second at the end of "The Avengers" in 2012. We've seen him a couple of times since, always with hints of his ultimate big-bad stature, and after six years we finally get to see the Avengers take on this power-hungry world-destroyer as he tries to finish collecting the infinity stones.
- marvel.com
What are the infinity stones, and what do they do?
They're the half-dozen shiny objects seen in multiple Marvel films that bad guys want and heroes protect. For example, one can open wormholes in space (the Tesseract, stolen by Loki a couple of times); another can manipulate minds (it's now in the forehead of Vision); still another controls time, and it's hanging from the neck of Doctor Strange (pictured).
- marvel.com
What happens if Thanos collects all of the stones?
If Thanos can obtain these stones (there's the one in Vision's forehead) and bedazzle his "gauntlet" glove with them, he can supposedly destroy about half of the universe "with a snap of his fingers," according to his daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana in the "Guardians" movies).
- marvel.com
This sounds bad; are our heroes in danger?
It's not good. The official "Avengers: Infinity War" website says the movie "brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers must be willing to sacrifice all" to defeat Thanos. Internet speculation about who might not make it out alive is running rampant.
- marvel.com
The running time and the rating
This will be the longest Marvel movie to date, with an estimated running time of more than 2 hours, 30 minutes. The official MPAA rating is PG-13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references."
- marvel.com
The box-office will be big, but will it be "Black Panther" big?
All Marvel films are blockbuster hits, but the biggest MCU hit had been 2012's "The Avengers" at more than $623 million. Then along came "Black Panther" in February, and it's the new No. 1, heading for $700 million. Most prognosticators believe "Infinity War" will pass it, beginning with a weekend start of $225 million or more. ©Marvel Studios 2018
- Marvel Studios
Why is the movie opening in April?
Disney moved up the North American release date by a week from May 4, matching it up with the opening-day release in the rest of the world, for multiple reasons. Among them: to avoid a week's worth of spoilers from international audiences; a chance to have the biggest global opening weekend in history; and, after seeing how "Black Panther" has performed for two months, this gives Disney another week of breathing room before its next mega-hit — "Solo: A Star Wars Story" — opens May 25.
- marvel.com
The biggest budget in history
Disney hasn't revealed an exact figure, but the filming of both this "Avengers" movie and the next one at the same time has a reported combined budget of between $750 million to $1 billion. That would be a record.
- marvel.com
What are the next movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
The next three are: the sequel "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (stars pictured here) on July 6; Oscar-winner Brie Larson starring as "Captain Marvel" on March 8, 2019; and the currently untitled fourth "Avengers" movie, set for May 3, 2019. Marvel Studios
- Marvel Studios
