Avengers: Infinity War would feature a big enough cast if it was just the Earth-based heroes of the MCU uniting to take on Thanos, but the gang will also get help from their ragtag cosmic counterparts the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well.
Given that both teams feature such big personalities, fans are worrying if the characters will actually get their due in the movie and its untitled sequel. Speaking to the press on set of Infinity War, co-director Joe Russo was on hand to assure us that the Guardians will have just as key a role in the movie as all of the other heroes, as the directors made sure everyone had “an emotional connection” to the plot and were not just there as window dressing.
“They have a great role in this film. Everyone is interwoven into this plot, in a way where they have an emotional connection to the story, and are emotionally effected by the stakes in the movie. You can’t tell a movie with this many characters, and not have each of those characters show up, honor them from their different franchises, if they are not motivated to be there, if they are not in life or death circumstances, if they are not fighting to save their belief system, or their way of life.”
Thanks to the backstory established in the Guardians movies, many of the group already have in-built reasons to join the fight against Thanos. Drax blames the Mad Titan for his family’s death as their murderer Ronan was working for Josh Brolin’s big bad. Nebula and Gamora, meanwhile, despise their adoptive father for the torture he put them through.
But how did the Russo brothers approach handling the tone of the Guardians, which was so well established by writer/director James Gunn in the previous films? Joe went on to explain that he and Anthony worked hard to “honour” the Guardians’ personalities but also had to adapt them to their own storytelling style.
“Specific to the Guardians, we have to find a way to bring those tones in, honor them, but also make them work with what we’re doing with the movie. I think the way that we find the best way to do that, is to filter these things through our very personal expression of them, as characters. It’s not dissimilar to what we did with Cap in Winter Soldier. There’s a movement with the characters, towards a more Russo brothers execution.”
One major moment for the Guardians that could happen in Infinity War is Peter Quill’s return to Earth for the first time since he was kidnapped by the Ravagers as a boy. It’s sure to be an important step for the character, but will there be room to explore this in the movie? Joe Russo wouldn’t reveal whether this event even occurs, but did promise that Infinity War would balance “a lot of people… dealing with a lot of issues.”
“There’s a lot of characters in the film, and there are a lot of people who are dealing with a lot of issues in a lot of moments, and you look to do the best that you can with each of those characters in the storytelling. We’ll get into whether Quill returns to Earth or not, but certainly, Earth is a pivotal player. But as is Space. So there’s a lotta stories we told in this one.”
The Avengers and the Guardians will collide when Avengers: Infinity War explodes into cinemas on April 27th.