We’re nearly a decade into the age of Marvel movies (beginning with Iron Man ) and the worst we’ve seen is a boring Thor sequel. How remarkable is that? It’s impossible to remember how risky the whole Marvel shared universe looked back in 2008. If anything, the Marvel movies have been a victim of their own success, adopting a remarkably duplicable house tone and style across films, which is why it’s awesome to hear something truly weird and different about the 2018 Avengers sequel, Avengers: Infinity War .
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Anthony Russo, who will be directing Avengers: Infinity War with his brother Joe, said of Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2:
“They’re massive in scope and scale but that’s the point. The point is for them to be as ambitious as they possibly can be. They're going to be multi-perspective films. They’re not called 'Captain America: Infinity War,' they’re called Infinity War. You’re going to be moving around through different perspectives of the characters. It’s like Nashville for superheroes.”
Nashville is Robert Altman’s 1975 masterpiece, a slice-of-life following dozens of musicians and Nashville residents as the music scene gears up for a tumultuous political rally. While Altman would develop his signature use of overlapping dialogue, huge ensembles and deadpan comedy in movies like MASH and McCabe & Mrs. Miller, it’s blown to extravagant proportions in Nashville .
So will Avengers: Infinity War eschew snappy, verbose Joss Whedon dialogue, replacing it with a stew of chattering costumed oddballs, all talking over each other? Spider-Man could quip as Captain America commands and Ant-Man gripes and the audience could pick out what they want from the tangle.
It’s an arresting thought: taking some of the techniques of America’s best ensemble auteur and applying them to a Marvel movie overstuffed with characters. Unfortunately, it seems likely that Russo means merely that Avengers: Infinity War will draw from many different character perspectives, just as the previous two Avengers did.
Still, I’m crossing my fingers for that Altman-esque Marvel movie. Their formula has proven successful, about time they jimmied with it.
