Avengers: Infinity War Directors Clarify How Nearly 70 Marvel Characters Will Appear in the Upcoming Films

Remember when the Captain America: Civil War directing duo said Marvel’s two-part Infinity War storyline would incorporate 67 characters? According to Joe Russo, who made an appearance at Wizard World Cleveland with his brother and directing partner Anthony Russo this past weekend, they left one character out.

“Well, we made a mistake. It’s actually 68,” Joe Russo told the Wizard World Cleveland panel audience. “But yes, there are quite a number of characters in the film.”

During his answer, Russo expounded on how he and brother Anthony Russo planned to feature almost 70 characters, as many fans were speculating about the feasibility of incorporating that many Marvel mainstays into two cohesive films.

Instead of trying to wrangle a storyline out of more than 50 characters, both parts of Infinity War will focus on the emotional arcs of a few, incorporating the other Marvel character appearances into those larger plotlines.

“Look, we have to tell the story and the story has to be built around the emotional arcs of characters, and you can only have so many emotional arcs,” Russo explained.

During the panel Russo also took the time to briefly outline who would be appearing in Infinity War, giving us a clearer idea of who they’re amassing for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s largest endeavor to date.

“All of the Avengers are going to be in the film, as well. Some new Avengers and some ancillary characters. Some new characters, some potentially bearing up of other Marvel properties. We are leaning into a few characters that carry the emotional arcs of the movies, but there are a lot of appearances in the films.”

Although not an outright confirmation, the explanation makes it seem possible that the movies may feature appearances from Marvel’s television heroes. At the same time, it raises a few more questions, including whether or not Marvel character properties not owned by Marvel Studios, like the recent record-smashing Deadpool, could make brief appearances as well.

Part one of Avengers: Infinity War is scheduled for release on May 4, 2018, followed by part two’s release on May 3, 2019.