The first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War has been unveiled.
The third instalment in Marvel and Disney’s Avengers film franchise, Infinity War sees Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the rest of the gang team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to thwart supervillain Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) in his quest to claim the Infinity Stones. The film will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the duo responsible for the Captain America sequels The Winter Soldier and Civil War. The pair will also direct the as-yet-untitled fourth film in the series, due in 2019.
The trailer gives us our first look at the Avengers extended team, which now includes not only the Guardians of the Galaxy, but also Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Also glimpsed is Thor’s nemesis Loki (Tom Hiddleston), as well as Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, now sporting a new blond haircut.
The forthcoming duo of Avengers films will mark the end of what Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has described as “phase three” of the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU), with a fourth phase beginning at the end of the fourth Avengers film. Feige has said that 20 films have already been plotted out as part of this next phase, though only two – a third Guardians of the Galaxy film, and a sequel to Spider-Man Homecoming – have so far been announced. There has been some speculation that a reboot of the MCU is due, with the contracts of several of the franchise’s key players – including Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr – set to expire.
Avengers: Infinity War is due in UK cinemas on 27 April 2018 and US cinemas a week later.
