Avengers: Infinity War has a smorgasbord of superheroes to choose from, we know that already. But there were some (for one reason or another *cough* hurry up, Fox *cough*) which couldn’t make it into the movie. Which ones would the directors have loved to have seen make an appearance? I put that exact question to the Russo Brothers when we spoke about the upcoming Avengers 3 – and got an interesting response.

“Let’s open it up to favourite Marvel characters,” begins Joe Russo, at once wanting to be diplomatic to my teasing question and also (probably) mindful of not giving away any future plans.

“It would probably be Wolverine,” says the elder Russo. When I remind him that, with a Fox deal potentially on the horizon, we could be getting it sooner rather than later, Anthony swoops in and says “Yeah, maybe one day…”

“We could be close,” says Joe Russo firmly, setting the resting heartbeats of the collective fandom just a little higher. Does he know something we don’t?

The looming spectre of a potential Fox deal has led many to believe that X-Men or Fantastic Four could be showing up in the MCU at some point in the near-future. Having Wolverine in Infinity War would have been brilliant, though. A powder-keg of a mutant being thrown into an already fractious group? Sign me up. Mostly because I want to see if Wolvie could do any damage to Thanos’ purple chrome dome.

From there, Joe Russo turned to his childhood for a second pick. “My joke answer is always Groo the Wanderer,” he says. “Frankly, I used to collect Groo as a kid.” Groo is an extreme deep cut so I’ll forgive you for not knowing the 1980s take on a cartoonish Conan the Barbarian type figure who spent his days foraging around Medieval Europe.

Wolverine might just be the more likely pick, but if you see Groo show up in a post-credits scene then you know who to blame…

If you're falling behind before Infinity War launches then this is the shortcut for you: the only 5 films you need to watch in preparation for the third Avengers movie.