WithThor: RagnarokandBlack Pantheron the horizon, the final pieces are falling into place for the first part of Marvel Studio’s big two-part culmination of the MCU’s first three phases,Avengers: Infinity War. After teasing Thanos as the ultimate big bad throughout the MCU mythology, Infinity War is poised to finally putJosh Brolin’s crazy powerful villain in the spotlight as he goes toe-to-toe with every damn hero in the galaxy on his quest to collect the Infinity Stones.
That means Thanos is going to have to purloin those stones from some mighty powerful superheroes, asInfinity WarfilmmakersJoeandAnthony Russoexplained in a new interview withCNET. Asked about their affinity for subverting genre, Anthony Russo revealed that Thanos not only has a big role to play, he’s almost a lead in the film, and his story takes on tones of a heist film as he hunts down the powerful infinity stones.
He explained,
“With “Infinity War,” the biggest new element to the movie is Thanos and the fact that he’s entering the storytelling in a very bold, strong way, to the degree that he’s almost one of the leads. We’ve shaped an interesting narrative around him that in some ways leans heavily on a heist film in the fact that he’s going after the infinity stones in a much bolder, successful way than he has in the past. The entire movie has that energy of the bad guy being one step ahead of the heroes. We looked at a lot of movies that had that heist-style energy to them, [and] that brought some inspiration.”
Marvel’s already dipped their toe in the heist genre withAnt-Man, but knowing the Russos previous films in the MCU and the life-or-apocalypse stakes ofInfinity War, it’s probably safe to assume this one will have a whole different tone. The Russos touted 70s spy thrillers as the influence forCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, and while that undercurrent helped shape the structure of the Cap sequel, it was definitely more of a tint in the broader Marvel palette than a direct spin on that genre. I’d expect the same to be true withInfinity War’s heist element.
If you need a refresher, here’s the status of the stones at the moment.
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