Thor’s Radical Transformation, Bucky’s New Arm, and More Infinity War Hints From the Russo Brothers

Super sibling directors Joe and Anthony Russo took a break from the Avengers 4 set to answer some burning fan questions about Avengers: Infinity War.

These responses are mostly spoiler-free—the Russos mention that they took a long time sorting through questions to find some whose answers wouldn’t reveal anything truly spoiler-y—but as always, if you would prefer to stay as pure as driven snow pre-Infinity War, off with you!

Which character are you most excited about revealing their character development in the film, and without spoilers, can we know why you made this pick?

Joe: Thanos, a very interesting and complex villain … his motivations, albeit psychotic, are compelling. In a lot of ways, this is his movie.

Anthony: I’m gonna pick Thor, because we’re picking up his story from the end of Thor: Ragnarok … his planet Asgard is destroyed, and so the character is in new territory, so to speak, because his past has been torn away from him to a degree. And I think that was very similar to a Captain America situation, when we picked up his story in Winter Soldier … Cap was in a place where we were very much catching him up with the modern world and seeing what that meant to him. Figuring out how you move a character that far forward, and that far away from where they started, back during the ’40s.

I think Thor, we have similar opportunities with that character in this movie, he’s gone through a radical transformation, and he’s moving forward in a way where he can never go back. And that’s always a fun place to be with a character as a storyteller.

Having tons of fun

How do you define the heroes’ fate or destiny? If there has to be sacrifice, how will you “papas” get us to accept it?

Joe: Well, I don’t know about getting you to accept it, but I will say this. We love being told good stories, and we love telling good stories. And all of our energy, and our effort, and our thought, and our passion, goes into telling the best story that we can. And for us, the best stories have stakes. Characters have to make sacrifices, to really, really feel the true emotion and the heroes’ journey. They have to go through trials, and those trials can cost them something.

So for us, it’s very important that the heroes feel pain, and that they make sacrifices, because I think that, not only is it great storytelling, but it also is inspiring, and I think we need a lot of inspiration in this world right now.  I don’t know if we can ever to get you to accept it, but we’ll do our damnedest to tell you the best story possible, and what you do with it from there is up to you.

Bucky’s new arm is super-cool. Where’s the inspiration come from?

Anthony: Okay, well, this is not a spoiler by me answering this question (Joe: It’s in the trailer!) For everyone who’s seen Captain America: Civil War, they know that Bucky was taken in by T’Challa in Wakanda. So we catch back up with him again once he’s been there for a while, and if there’s an influence on his arm, it may perhaps have to do with that country he’s been spending time in.

Time for an upgrade

I love the Russo Brothers because they gave us Captain America: The Winter Soldier, still the best Marvel movie (fight me), and while I didn’t obsessively love Captain America: Civil War But Mostly The Iron Man Show, I trust them with Infinity War and its seemingly infinite characters and plotlines.

As a Thor fan, I’m pretty psyched to hear Anthony Russo say that he’s most excited about Thor’s character development, and I hope that means that Thor will not and cannot die, ever. And it’s cool to have what sounds like confirmation that Bucky’s new arm is of Wakandan design. I cannot wait to see if Shuri & Co. have added some improvements. I’m equally curious about the reasons why T’Challa—or someone—wakes Bucky up from cryo, ready with a new arm and probably an intergalactic war to fight. Hope you’re feeling rested, pal.

The repeated emphasis on “pain” “trials” and “sacrifices” in Joe Russo’s answer also confirms that I’m probably going to spend most of this movie curled in a protective fetal position. It’s cool, I’m sure I’ll be fine. Just fine.

Pictured: Me watching Infinity War

(via YouTube, CBR, image: screengrab/Marvel)

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