How Many Marvel Characters Are In Avengers: Infinity War?

In just a few months,Marvelkicks offPhase ThreewithCaptain America: Civil War, which features perhaps one of the biggest ensemble casts in the studio’s history. All of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, old and new, will be back, except forThor(Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), with new characters getting introduced likeSpider-Man(Tom Holland) andBlack Panther(Chadwick Boseman). This movie will help set the stage forAvengers: Infinity War Part Iin 2018 andAvengers: Infinity War - Part IIin 2019, but it seems those two movies might have the biggest casts yet.

DirectorsAnthony RussoandJoe Russowill move directly fromCaptain America: Civil WartoAvengers: Infinity War Part 1and Avengers: Infinity War - Part II, which we reported will shoot back-to-back over a nine-month stretch, starting in late 2016. There is very little we know about the plot yet, but the directors both appeared at aCaptain America: Civil Warpanel at Wizard World New Orleans this weekend, whereJoe Russorevealed exactly how many characters are in this two part adventure. Here’s what he had to say, after his brother misidentifiedHayley Atwell’s character Peggy Carter as Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp).

“We have so many characters we’re dealing with. We’re breaking ground onAvengers: Infinity War. We have a board with 67 characters on it. You have to forgive him.”

This doesn’t come as too big a surprise, since, earlier this week,Joe Russorevealed that this two-part story unites the entireMarvel Cinematic Universe, although he wouldn’t confirm specific characters like theGuardians of the Galaxy. The story will revolve around the villainous Thanos, as he tries to collect all of the Infinity Stones. As of now, four of the six Infinity Stones have been revealed, but it isn’t known when the last two will come into play.

The Space Stone was the Tesseract, which is currently housed in Asgaard, with the Mind Stone currently serving as a power source for Vision. The Reality Stone was originally contained in the Aether fromThor: The Dark World, and is now housed in The Collector’s (Benicio Del Toro) museum, and the Power Stone was first seen in the orb fromGuardians of the Galaxy, which is now housed at Nova Corps. The last two stones, the Soul Stone and the Time Stone will surely come into play at some point inPhase Three, but we’re not sure when. It’s worth noting thatKevin Feigedid reveal that the upcomingDoctor Strangefeatures the Eye of Agamotto, which the producer says allows the Sorcerer Supreme to “screw around with time.” Many have speculated that the Eye of Agamotto is the Time Stone, but that has not been confirmed. What do you think about these new details forAvengers: Infinity War Part Iand Avengers: Infinity War - Part II?