Avengers: Infinity War - Everything you need to know

From Digital Spy

We all thought that Captain America: Civil War was inconceivably huge, with its two opposing armies of superheroes, but the more we read about Avengers: Infinity War, the clearer it is that we ain't seen nothin' yet.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to the cosmic bust up for years – and it will stretch over two films, with triple the cast of Cap's latest outing.

Winter Soldier and Civil War directors Anthony and Joe Russo are back to tackle Marvel's monster, which will reunite them with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is serving as executive producer, and Spider-Man: Homecoming's Jon Watts is involved too.

But what can we expect when the mad titan Thanos comes out swinging for the double movie? Here's everything you need to know to prepare for the all-out Avengers war:

Avengers: Infinity War trailer: it's a super smash

The first trailer has dropped revealing just how massive this film is going to be, check it out below.

The trailer begins with a nod back to The Avengers with Samuel L Jackson proclaiming, "There was an idea… " Does this hint at a return for the man who brought them all together, Nick Fury?

We're then treated to all the Avengers with the exception of Ant-Man (though, obvs, he could be flying around there somewhere). The Vision and Scarlet Witch seem to be sharing a moment, whilst we loved seeing Peter Parker's Spidey senses tingling and then in action in his new Iron Spider suit.

Also worth noting is the return of the Hulkbuster armour, has Bruce Banner's alter ego gone rogue again? and more recent additions Black Panther and Okoye fighting alongside the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Iron Man, Hulk, Falcon and Captain America.

On the bad guys' side, Thanos is invading and we see his huge-ringed ship hovering above New York City. Not only that, he's nabbed the Mind Stone from the Vision, and landed a MASSIVE killer punch on Iron Man.

And what's Loki doing with the Tesseract…?

Finally, at the very end, we're treated to an eye-patched Thor meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy gang.

Our second look at the film came at Super Bowl 2018, including a look at Captain America's new shield.

Avengers: Infinity War release date – One film or two?

First billed as a two-part movie, with Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 being followed a year later by Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2, the latest seems to be that Marvel is drawing a more rigid line between them.

The first movie will be simply Avengers: Infinity War, and will follow the familiar pattern of releasing first in the UK, on April 27, 2018, then following in the US on May 4, 2018.

The second film is currently known only as 'Untitled Avengers'. That's coming to the UK on April 26, 2019, and the US on May 3, 2019. It started shooting in summer 2017.

The Russos had already said that the previous titles were "misleading" and that the two films were going to be "very, very different". The question remains as to just how related or separated they will turn out to be. The eventual announcement of the second title should shed some more light on this particular mystery, though it looks like we'll be waiting for some time for that.

We got an early peek at what appears to be Josh Brolin in a mo-cap suit sitting during rehearsals, and now shooting is officially underway on the film. Keep an eye on the Russo brothers' Facebook page for more behind-the-scenes images as filming continues.

Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy actor and brother of director James Gunn) gave us what might be a first look at Infinity War's branding.

Avengers: Infinity War cast – Thanos is sitting pretty

Marvel has kept quiet on the complete cast of Infinity War. Originally estimated to have 67 characters showing up over the course of the movie and its follow-up – the current count according to Hemsworth is 76, with 40 superheroes reportedly on screen in one scene. That accounts for pretty much all the MCU's existing stars, and presumably some we are yet to meet.

As the main villain of the piece, there is no doubt that Josh Brolin's Thanos will be making an appearance – and he may be more than pure CGI this time – and will be subverting Marvel's villain problem by serving as the "main character" in the film.