The question of exactly how many heroes are set to unite in Avengers: Infinity War has been perplexing Marvel fans for a long time now. A while ago, the Russo brothers were quoted as saying that the event movie would have 67 key characters. However, they recently revealed that this number was just pulled out of thin air and in reality, no one has really counted.
Doctor Strange himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, has now given us a rough ballpark figure, though. The British star was promoting Infinity War on The Graham Norton Show when he was asked about the thorny issue of how many heroes it’ll feature. According to Cumberbatch, the figure lies somewhere between 23 to 36.
“No one really knows, I’ve heard everything from sort of 36 to 23 was the most frequently quoted number, but I don’t even think the Russo Brothers who directed it know quite how many there are in it. I’m sure they do actually. They know everything.”
While it remains unconfirmed, the actor’s suggestion here is probably spot-on. Once you run through all the major characters that we know for certain will appear in Infinity War – we’ll leave that up to you otherwise we’d be here all day – the number definitely reaches up to the mid-twenties range.
On top of that, there might be a few surprises in there, too. Certainly if you include Avengers 4, the number will increase even more, as leaked details and slips from the cast have revealed that the likes of Captain Marvel, the Wasp and even older heroes like Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne could appear as well.
This might sound excessive, but Iron Man and co. will need every hand on deck when Thanos comes a-knocking to collect all six Infinity Stones, in his bid to unleash his goal of wiping out half of all life in the universe. But will even this many superheroes be enough to stop the Mad Titan? Usually, we wouldn’t question it, but this is the final chapter of the MCU’s first decade, so anything goes. And it all kicks off when Avengers: Infinity War hits cinemas on April 27th.