Avengers: Infinity War still manages to be a top tier superhero movie by any sensible measure, and one of the best of the MCU. One of the reasons why it works so well is because it is clearly Thor’s movie, but everyone else also gets meaningful and important involvement.
What could have been just a rota of characters having to show up and tick a box became an enjoyable set of hero groupings, side-quests and interlinked plots.
It’s really long and jumps from point to point, but never once feels like a slog, or that anything is wasted.
With an even bigger roster of heroes in Avengers: Doomsday, can they pull off the same feat again?
There are the Avengers, the Thunderbolts, the Wakandans, X-Men and the Fantastic Four all to be worked in.
According to one of the stars of the movie, they have made it work and avoided the cameo churn.
Lewis Pullman, who played Bob Reynolds/Sentry in Thunderbolts and again in Doomsday, gave an interview to Esquire Magazine and pointed to good screen time and interesting combinations, the same thing that made Infinity War work:
“Every character has their moment that builds the dimensions of them. The Russo brothers did that so well. They do not want anyone just sitting in the background. They really took to heart the responsibility of having some of the best actors in the world all together.
There’s a lot of really exciting pair-ups that happen. A lot of fans will be really excited. It’s so fun to dream about. What if A and B would work together? Would B and D would work together? You get to see a lot of those fantasies come into fruition.”
The cast is huge, the teasers have started. The rumored plot and major beats have started to leak out from various test screenings and executive briefings.
**Potential Spoilers From Here**
The most reliable rumors indicate that Dr. Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) is the Fox X-Men’s timeline version of the character, and he is attempting to save the multiverse from chaotic incursions by destroying the TVA, in the process seizing Loki’s powers.
This brings him into conflict with the MCU’s Avengers and various other multiverse characters.
Odin and a Valhalla army raised by Thor were rumored to feature.
Rumors are also circulating that the Blade, the Fox X-Men, and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man will be honored in the story as they are credited with kickstarting the current wave of Superhero movies as we know it today.
There is also the small matter of the creation of Battleworld, and we all know where that leads.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in cinemas on December 18th.
