Infintiy Pool

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe turns 10 years old, every hero so far is teaming up for Avengers: Infinity War, and the stakes have never been higher. Total Film meets Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Star-Lord and more on set as they face the ultimate threat. But is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

- Matt Maytum

Pinewood Atlanta Studios, 2017. Total Film is on the top-secret set of Avengers: Infinity War, one of the few remaining instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Three, and the culmination of the 18 previous MCU movies to date. It’s the most ambitious team-up yet for a studio that pioneered the concept of assembling disparate heroes on screen in an ‘expanded universe’. At Chris ‘Star-Lord’ Pratt’s estimate, there are 22 superheroes uniting to face down the ultimate big bad.

What TF witnesses on Stage 9 is just a hint of the carnage that intergalactic villain Thanos (played by Josh Brolin, via motion-capture) will wreak when he comes to Earth to enact his grand plan. Fire. Twisted metal. Fallen trees. Soil and gravel everywhere. Crew members ensure that the fires are burning just where they need to be, as dozens of cast and stunt performers prepare to run purposefully out of a trench for a slow-motion shot.

Details are scarce as to what’s actually going on, but it’s fair to assume something big has occurred. Avengers rub shoulders with Guardians, as Wakandan warriors take up arms alongside characters who look like they’ve stepped through a portal from another realm entirely. Mark Ruffalo – in strategically spotted skin-tight pyjamas – has a mast attached to his head to indicate the Hulk’s eyeline and the scale of his CGI avatar. By any measure – creative, logistical, and presumably budgetary – this is the biggest Marvel movie yet. Hydraulic canisters hiss and bangs break out when action’s called and the cameras roll.