Which MCU characters make Infinity War?

Joe and Anthony Russo stunned the Internet with the revelation that Avengers: Infinity War would feature 67 characters. That’s a lot of folks, but will it be enough to stop Thanos? Either way, it’s a good thing Infinity War is being split into two parts. As a firm supporter of the Russos, who supplanted Joss Whedon as my favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe creator, I’m positive they’ll be able to handle so many characters.

But because I’m clearly crazy and with far too much time, I decided to map out the potential 67 characters that have the best chances of appearing in the two films. Some choices, like the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy members were easy and of course there’s likely to be some great options from the other Phase III films.

We already know a new member will be joining the Guardians for example and other heroes could debut in Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok and Ant Man & the Wasp. To help make more sense of things, I broke potential characters down in their respective franchise umbrellas i.e. Team Captain America, Team Iron Man, etc.

Iron Man branch

1. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) – The biggest no-brainer since the co-centerpiece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with Captain America, wouldn’t possibly miss a major opportunity to shine in the spotlight in saving the entire galaxy.

2. James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) – There’s a few scenes in the Civil War trailer that certainly doesn’t make things look too good for Rhodey making another appearance in the MCU, but assuming the injuries aren’t serious, look for War Machine to be flying into action against Thanos.

3. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) – With the fate of the universe at stake, best believe Tony is going to make sure he spends some quality time with his main squeeze and head of Stark Industries.

4. Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) – Despite not directing Iron Man 3 (Iron Man 3 (Blu-ray + DVD) , the longtime MCU executive producer reprised his on-camera role as Stark’s bodyguard/chauffeur and seems a lock to at least make a cameo even if it’s just driving Pepper around for a few scenes.

5. Stan Lee – It’s not a Marvel movie without an appearance from The Man. And at 93, morbid as it sounds, the co-founder of many of Marvel’s major characters may be making a posthumous cameo by the time Infinity War comes to theaters in 2018.

6. Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) – The MCU hasn’t had a problem revisiting aged or dead characters via flashbacks and this epic certainly seems like it will warrant a cameo from Tony’s father one way or another to help his son get through a rough stretch and create some new fantastic gadget.

7. Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb) – MCU’s main reporter will definitely have a lot of big news to cover with the Mad Titan threatening to destroy the world.

S.H.I.E.L.D. branch

8. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)- The man largely responsible for assembling the Avengers will likely have to lend S.H.I.E.L.D.’s support to help in this global threat as well as provide some motivational guidance when the chips are at their worst.

9. Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)- With an extended role in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron [Blu-ray] expect Fury’s right-hand woman and close Avengers ally to help run mission operations and helping to control the chaos from Thanos’ arrival.

10. Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg)- For longtime MCU fans, Infinity War seems like the ideal time for Coulson to let his old Avengers allies know he’s still alive. It’s been a few years after all. That scene alone could make for a movie-making moment.

11. Daisy (Chloe Bennet) – While all of the Agents of SHIELD might not be able to get worked into the film, there’s little chance that the series’ co-star and super-powered member won’t be joining the effort either.

12. Mike Peterson/Deathlok (J. August Richards) – The other longtime powered SHIELD ally is a walking arsenal and would be handy in lending his power against Thanos.

13 – 15. Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) – While the three other original founding members won’t be able to do much in a fight against Thanos, Fitz/Simmons can provide invaluable resources and aid Stark and Bruce Banner in creating devices to help our heroes. And May we just need to look cool.

16. Gideon Malick (Powers Boothe) – It’s pretty safe to assume the Hydra plan to defeat SHIELD won’t succeed, but the member of the World Council might have another trick up his sleeve and attempt to form an alliance as a human liaison with Thanos.

Hulk branch

17. Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) – We already know Hulk will be teaming up with his Avenger pal Thor in Thor: Ragnarok so he’s likely to gain greater insight in the dangers of the Infinity Stones.

18. Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) – Due to the contract restrictions on solo Hulk movies this may be the only chance we get to see Betty have a quiet moment with her flame. And it’d be pretty cool to have a scene with her, Pepper and Jane Foster.

19 and 20. General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) and Gen. Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) – Ross will be appearing in Civil War so we know he’s still in deep with the government who will need to come crawling back to the Avengers they helped shatter for assistance in stopping Thanos. We haven’t seen this partnership on screen yet, but Talbot supporting Ross would make for a fun Easter Egg for Hulk fans.

Thor branch

21. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – The Avenger most aware of what’s going on with the Infinity Stones is already working to decipher what’s going on so he’ll probably be taking the lead at least in the first installment.

22. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) – Whether doubling as Odin or as a potential new ally for Thanos, look for Loki, a longtime MCU fan favorite to return to cause a hint of mischief.

23. Jane Foster – To help stop Thanos, Thor might need some insight from his lady love and if things go badly, the films might take a page from the comics and have Jane grab Mjolnir herself.

24. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) – Erik was with Thor when he first saw the vision of the Infinity Stones and it’s not a stretch to think he would be further investigating what had his friend freaked out.

25. Darcy (Kat Dennigs) – The third Musketeer of the Team Thor science team probably won’t have a lot of insight to offer beyond comic relief, but she’s part of the package.

26. Odin (Anthony Hopkins) – Assuming Odin has resumed his throne, he will likely have to lead Asgard’s forces to battle against Thanos en route to conquering Earth.

27. Heimdall (Idris Elba) – Heimdall has already foreseen major problems ahead for the Asgardians and more than any other character he might be the first to spot Thanos on his destructive path across the galaxy.

28-31. Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), Fandral (Zachary Levi) and Sif (Jamie Alexander) – When Thor or Asgard need their skills, the Warriors Three and the valiant Sif are always ready to go to war even if it means a quick ticket to Valhalla.

Captain America branch

32. Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) – Regardless of how close Captain America: Civil War sticks to the comic book source material there’s no way the Avengers leader will be sitting out both chapters.

33. The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) – Where Cap goes, Falcon isn’t far behind even if it’s in a conflict where he’s terribly out of his element.

34. Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) – Take everything mentioned for Falcon and repeat here with Cap’s childhood friend. Whatever the result of Civil War, Bucky will either be carrying the shield for his friend or battling alongside him no matter the odds.

35. Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) – Between her TV series and cameos in both Avengers films, Peggy has been a major MCU fixture and like Howard Stark, look for the Russos to figure a way to put her into the story as well.

36. Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) – Cap’s newest ally probably won’t be heading to space to battle Thanos, but she’ll supplement S.H.I.E.L.D. forces and give Cap a reason to come back safely.

37-38. Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) and Crossbones (Frank Grillo) – Before the attention turns to Thanos, the Avengers are going to likely seek some payback for the two men responsible for pitting them against each other in Civil War.

39. The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) – The Red Skull seemed to get absorbed into the Infinity Stone Space Gem aka the Tesseract, but what if he wasn’t dead and merely needed someone to trigger the gem to free him?

Avengers branch

40. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) – Already a veteran of massive invasion battles, Black Widow will be one of the leaders to help the new members acclimate themselves to the higher stakes.

41. Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – As duty continues to call for the archer, Clint can’t refuse his friends’ need for his impeccable aim again, provided he promises to retire for good after this war.

42. Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini) – To motivate Clint to somehow survive this massive war, he’ll need some occasional check-ins and hear stories about little Pietro as well as get updates on the honey-do list.

43. Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson) – Still exploring the full potential of her power, Scarlet Witch will be one of the team members forced to rise to this impossible challenge.

44. The Vision (Paul Bettany) – One of the newer and more powerful Avengers, Vision is likely to be one of those supporting characters the Russos hinted would become more prominent as the story unfolds.

45. Ultron (James Spader) – There’s got to be an Ultron body lying around and even the tease of Ultron returning to trouble the team down the road would be more than enough.

46. Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) – Let’s face it, killing off Quicksilver was a pretty terrible decision and while resurrecting him long-term would be a cheat, Thanos could use the Infinity Gauntlet to torment his grieving sister.

Guardians of the Galaxy branch

47. Star Lord (Chris Pratt) – The Guardians have already experienced the power of an Infinity Stone firsthand and will likely reluctantly follow their leader’s lead to prevent Thanos from destroying the universe with the full might of the Infinity Gauntlet.

48. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) – Thanos’ adopted daughter definitely knows the madness her father is capable of and will fight to her final breath to make sure Thanos can’t destroy another world.

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49. Drax (Dave Bautista) – With an actual vendetta against Thanos for having his pawn Ronan kill his family, Drax has a more personal stake in taking down Thanos than anyone.

50. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) – The surly raccoon gets a chance to unleash all kinds of crazy weapons and a prosthetic leg against Thanos? Sign him up.

51. Groot (Vin Diesel) – He is Groot. And he’ll make sure his buddies don’t go into battle alone.

52. Yondu (Michael Rooker) – I’m blanking on who will be joining the Guardians in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 so for now, Star Lord’s old business partner will fill in. At least we know he’s handy with that cool arrow trick.

53. The Collector (Benicio del Toro) – Thanos said he was going to collect the Infinity Stones himself, but that doesn’t mean he won’t take some assistance from the man known for locating objects others would wish stayed hidden.

54. Thanos (Josh Brolin) – The film’s main villain himself definitely has to be accounted for, but the intriguing question is if he’ll be battling the heroes on his own or with help.

55. Death (?) – Thanos’ entire reason for being is to court the physical manifestation of Death so she is essential to give him a purpose for his mad quest to obliterate the galaxy.

56. Nebula (Karen Gillan) – Hoping to prove her worth to her father Thanos, Nebula is going to be right at her father’s side. And if the film plays out at all like the comic Infinity Gauntlet , she might try and steal the power for herself.

57. Adam Warlock (?) – With so many characters already in the MCU, I didn’t see the Russos introducing a lot of characters, but Adam Warlock helped lead the fight against Thanos and he might be the key to defeating him in the film version as well.

New arrivals branch

58. Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) – With his solo film partially being used to setup Infinity War, Black Panther will have a pivotal role in the saga.

He’s a character MCU executives are very passionate about so look for him to also be a major figure in the films.

59. Klaw (Andy Serkis) – Black Panther’s chief foe has already been a thorn in the Avengers side before and he could be incorporated as one of Thanos’ human agents.

60. Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) – While fighting a galactic menace is far more terrifying than battling the Sinister Six, expect Spider-Man to be used to help humanize this massive story.

61. Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) – To help keep the story grounded, the films are going to have to look at the people are heroes are fighting for and that isn’t symbolized any better than with Peter’s beloved aunt.

62. Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) – This could be the conflict that convinces Scott going small isn’t the only size changing option and we might finally see Giant Man make his MCU debut.

63. The Wasp (Evangeline Lily) – Yes, the two smallest potential future Avengers don’t seem like obvious recruits to tangle with Thanos, but Wasp isn’t going to sit back when she has a chance to show off her new skills to the world’s greatest heroes.

64. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) – Pym’s too old to join the fight against Thanos, but he could also contribute to the battle on the weapons front by discovering a method to weaponize an arsenal similar to his comic book counterpart’s West Coast Avengers stint.

65. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) – When dealing with the Infinity Stones having someone who can match their power with magic will prove invaluable.

And beyond superhero logistics, who isn’t highly anticipating Benedict Cumberbatch interacting with the Avengers cast?

66. Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) – While Doctor Strange will be fighting to protect the world from the Infinity Gauntlet’s powers, Baron Mordo might be one of the characters who tries to partner with Thanos while having designs on stealing the Gauntlet himself.

67. Captain Marvel (?) – While the Avengers heroine has yet to be cast, her standalone film will be released between the two Infinity Wars chapters so if there’s any lock to definitely appear that we haven’t seen yet it’s the good captain.

So who do you think will show up?