Recently the Russo brothers, the directors of the upcoming Marvel films crossover event Avengers Infinity War 1 and 2, hinted that the two films would feature as many as 67 characters. For one thing, it sticks out because it’s such a specific number, but it also stretches our imaginations trying to figure out who this line up could include, and how it could possibly stack up so high.
So, I’m going to go ahead and tally it up for you.
Character line up:
The absolute musts: The original 2012 Avengers lineup will be present for at least one part of these films. So that means Black Widow, Iron Man, The Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, Nick Fury and Captain America. Character count so far: 7
Next, we have the added Avengers from 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. These include War Machine, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Vision. Character count so far: 11
We also have characters that have been previously introduced in other films, or that are going to be featured in Captain America: Civil War (which is essentially Avengers 2.5). The additions to the line up are as follows: Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Spider-man, Winter Soldier, and Agent 13. Character count so far: 17
Of course, there’s also the Guardians of the Galaxy crew, who will likely play a key role in such a cosmic themed crossover event. Assuming the teams stays largely unchanged, it will include Gamora, Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, and Drax. Character count so far: 22
Finally, we have new characters getting debut solo films between now and Avengers: Infinity War 1&2: Dr.Strange, Captain Marvel, and the Inhumans (the likely line-up of that team will be Black Bolt, Medusa, Maximus, Karnak, Triton, Gorgon, Crystal, and Lockjaw). Character count so far: 32
Pretty impressive to think of how expansive the Marvel cinematic universe is, and that’s just incorporating the main characters.
Now, let’s get into deeper cuts.
We have supporting heroes from other films, which truly expands our options. Starting with Thor, there’s the Warriors Three: Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. Thor’s partner Sif (who also made appearances on Marvel’s Agents of Shield), and the mystical gatekeeper, Heimdall. Finally, it seems inevitable that Odin would have to factor in such a large cosmic conflict. Special agent Maria Hill, featured in Avengers, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Agents of Shield seems like a lock, too. With Dr. Strange just around the corner, it seems certain that his long standing partner Wong (think of a supernatural Alfred Pennyworth) will tag along for the ride. Character count so far: 40
The Marvel television series have yet to crossover into the films, but it reasons that such a gigantic event like Infinity War would be an ideal opportunity to at least feature cameos from our favorite small screen Marvel heroes. This includes Agent Coulson and his Agents of Shield (Mockingbird, Quake, May, Fitz, Simmons, Hunter, Ward and Mack), Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and the upcoming Iron Fist and Punisher. Also, with time travel being on the table due to the Infinity Gems, why not have Agent Peggy Carter and Howard Stark show up? Character count so far: 56
Wow. So effortlessly, we’ve nearly filled our quota, and only sticking to heroic characters with special abilities. That brings us to…
The bad guys:
Of Course, there’s Thanos, who is being billed as Marvel’s ultimate baddie since 2012, with appearances in both the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, and certainly other films leading up to Infinity War. Not far behind Thanos will be his step daughter Nebula, and the woman/cosmic being Thanos is courting, Death (seriously, part of the plot hinges on Thanos trying to impress Death by killing half of the universe using the Infinity Gems…). Millions of Tom Hiddleston fans around the world will cry out in unison if Loki isn’t featured—and it would be nice to see the villain that originally brought Earth’s mightiest heroes together help do it all over again on a bigger scale. Also, Benicio Del Toro’s character, the Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy will likely be involved in the shenanigans. Character count so far: 61
That leaves us with seven slotsthat could easily be filled with supporting players from previous films that lack special powers or advanced training. These include Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan from the Iron Man series, Jane Foster, Dr. Selvig and Darcy Lewis from Thor, and Dr. Pym from Ant-man. Character count so far: 67
Still, there are new characters that may be introduced in the film itself (in the number of Marvel films slated for release between now and Avengers Infinity War part 2). The only character of that sort that seems like a 100% lock is Adam Warlock, who is a major character in Marvel’s cosmic comics and chief rival to Thanos. Character count so far: 68
That’s right, I went over the character limit. Hey, leave them with one to grow on.
