Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is premiering today in Philippine cinemas, and it’s rumored to have over 70 of Marvel’s superheroes to date. You read that right seven-zero Marvel characters!
That many characters may seem daunting for those with a hazy recall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but no worries, we got you covered!
Consider this your cheat sheet to avoid questions like “Who’s the guy in the red cape?” or “Which one was the dancing tree again?”
WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
The Avengers: Team Cap & Team Iron Man
Notable Characters: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), The Hulk (Bruce Banner), Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Vision (formerly Jarvis), Falcon (Sam Wilson), War Machine (James Rhodes)
The OG squad made up of Cap, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye (plus Thor, but we’ll get to him later) first teamed up in The Avengers (2012), and are the ones with the most public recall.
The team was last gathered during the hero-versus-hero conflict of Captain America: Civil War (2016), where Team Cap (Captain America, Falcon, Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter, Ant-Man, and Scarlet Witch) faced off and lost against Team Iron Man (Iron Man, Black Widow, War Machine, Black Panther, Vision, and Spider-Man).
Now, Team Cap is officially free of the Raft and reunited with the rest of the Avengers and Bucky Barnes, who was frozen in Wakanda post-Civil War.
Oh, and Black Widow is now blonde.
The Civil War Recruits
Notable Characters: Ant-Man (Scott Lang), The Winter Soldier / The White Wolf (James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Black Panther (T’Challa)
Captain America and Iron Man each “recruited” more heroes for the Civil War smackdown: Bucky for Cap, and Ant-Man, Spider-Man, and Black Panther for Tony.
Bucky’s backstory as Cap’s long-time friend and former HYDRA operative was covered in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Civil War (2016).
Meanwhile, the ex-con turned superhero Scott Lang (Ant-Man, 2015), teenage vigilante Peter Parker (Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2017), and King T’Challa (Black Panther, 2018) each got their own movies within the Marvel universe prior their entry into the Avengers.
Now, they’ve officially joined under the banner in time to battle Thanos and his Black Order, the main baddies of Infinity War.
The Asgardians
Notable Characters: Thor Odinson, Loki, Valkyrie
Thor was introduced in his solo movie (2011), and re-introduced as a member of the original Avengers (2012) in the face-off against Loki and the Chitauri force during the invasion of New York. They teamed up a few years later against the Dark Elves on Thor: The Dark World(2013), where they first encountered the Aether, or Reality Stone, one of the six stones that are central to the plot of Infinity War.
They last returned to the silver screen for Thor: Ragnarok (2017), where their fight against their sister and goddess of death Hela resulted in the destruction of Asgard and the evacuation of their entire race on a spaceship bound for Earth – and the final battle against Thanos.
Though it’s been confirmed that both Loki and Thor will star in Infinity War, it’s still unclear whether the badass former bounty hunter Valkyrie (circa Ragnarok, 2017) will be joining them.
The Guardians of the Galaxy
Notable Characters: Starlord (Peter Quill), Gamora, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, Mantis, Nebula
It was originally unclear whether this band of intergalactic misfits led by Peter Quill would join up with the rest of the Marvel cinematic universe storyline, but here they are front and center, picking Thor up out of the space wreckage (of his ship full of Asgardan refugees? We’ll see!).
They’re fresh from the confrontation with Peter’s father Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where they gained their newest member, Mantis. Gamora also made peace with her adopted sister Nebula, who chose to leave on a solo revenge mission against their adopted father Thanos (yup, that Thanos) despite an invite to become a Guardian.
While Starlord and company are shown working together with Tony in the trailers, it’s uncertain what part Nebula will play in the battle against Thanos.
The Masters of the Mystic Arts
Notable Characters: Doctor Strange (Stephen Vincent Strange M.D., PHD.), Wong
The second official trailer for Infinity War (and this cute clip with Peter Parker) confirm both Dr. Strange and archivist-turned-sidekick Wong as part of the force against Thanos.
This not surprising after the Eye of Agamotto, the time-controlling pendant Strange uses to win the battle against Dormammu and his zealots in Doctor Strange (2016), was revealed to hold the Time Stone, another of the six Infinity Stones.
The Wakandans
Notable Characters: Black Panther (T’Challa), Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye, the Dora Milaje
While T’Challa and his late father King T’Chaka of Wakanda were first introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), we met the rest of the royal family, the Wakandan tribes, and the all-female Wakandan special forces in the critically-acclaimed Black Panther (2018).
After reclaiming his rightful throne and establishing the first Wakandan embassy in Black Panther, T’Challa and the other Wakandans are shown to be out in force with Cap, Bucky Barnes, and Black Widow in the official “Wakanda Fight” clip.
That’s one way to show Wakanda to the rest of the world.
The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Notable Characters: Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Phil Coulson
Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Phil Coulson feature prominently in the formation of the Avengers (Avengers, 2012) and the Marvel spinoff TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After the reveal of Hydra’s infiltration and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s official dissolution, they made critical cameos in other Marvel Movies: Maria Hill working for Stark Industries in the Iron Manmovies and Nick Fury in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), where he brought the critical helicarriers that saved many Sokovian civilians.
Other Characters
Notable Characters: Collector / Taneleer Tivan (Guardians franchise), Happy Hogan (Iron Man and Spider-Man franchise), Pepper Potts (Iron Man franchise), Everett K. Ross (Captain America and Black Panther franchise)
These characters have each been each featured in a prominent Marvel movie or franchise, and are at risk of being pulled into the conflict with Thanos because of their associations to specific heroes. That’s not a good thing, as most of them are human or non-powered.
In the first few seconds of the official Infinity War trailer, Tony is famously shown holding someone’s hand in the middle of a battlefield, leading many fans to theorize that Pepper might not survive the battle.
Taneleer Tivan is also in danger, as he’s is currently in possession of two Infinity Stones after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).
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