Avengers: Infinity War Is “So Different From The Comic Books,” Says Mark Ruffalo

In the run-up to Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel fans may be looking to get their hands on the major comic book story arcs that feature Thanos’ hunt for the Infinity Stones, such as The Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War, in the hopes of prepping themselves for what will happen in the much-anticipated event movie. This could prove a fruitless exercise, however, as a few stars from the film have teased that it’ll go off in its own direction.

CinemaBlend caught up with Mark “Hulk” Ruffalo and Chadwick “Black Panther” Boseman and picked their brains over how closely Infinity War follows the source material. The pair didn’t spill much, but did reveal that the movie takes the audience into “new territory” and overall is “so different” from the comics.

“Mark Ruffalo: This one, we’re in new territory, really.

Chadwick Boseman: It’s different in this one, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just because we’re in so many different places.

Ruffalo: And it’s so different from the comic books. There’s elements that are clearly the same, but when you really start to get into the story, everything changes. I did… Planet Hulk was a big influence for Thor 3, and the idea, the inkling of World War Hulk starts to… I read (that) way before doing this, and there’s some interesting stuff in there, but honestly nothing so far directly related to this. … [Infinity Gauntlet] is informative as well, but then again, it just gets so off of that topic that it starts to become a little confusing, where you’re like ‘Why isn’t this in there? Why are we doing this?’

Boseman: It actually takes away from what is actually happening in front of you I think, in this case.”

In other words, fans shouldn’t get too preoccupied with what happens in the comics. If they’re waiting for all of the major moments from Thanos’ story on the page to appear in Infinity War, then they may well be disappointed and end up damaging their enjoyment of the movie in the process. However, for those who are really hoping to see some key things on screen, Ruffalo does promise that a few elements are “clearly the same.”

One part of The Infinity Gauntlet storyline that looks set to occur in the film is Thanos’ gambit of wiping out half of the universe’s population, once he gets his hands on all the Stones. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have hinted that the Mad Titan does this as an extreme method of fixing overpopulation problems in the galaxy, which contrasts with the comic book explanation for it as a twisted gesture of love to Lady Death. In fact, one of the biggest changes the movie promises to make is that Thanos will see himself as the hero of the hour.

Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters worldwide on April 27th.