Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo revealed their favorite character team-ups from this summer’s Marvel superhero epic. After months of anticipation, the biggest and baddest of all the MCU movies is almost here. The stakes are higher than ever this time around as the Mad Titan Thanos arrives on earth to take on the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Of course, lots of (carefully guarded) surprises are also in store for fans, as well as some potentially jarring deaths.

The action figures to be more epic than ever in Infinity War, with our heroes facing the most powerful villain in the galaxy. But as much as all the MCU movies depend on action and effects for their power, conflict between characters has always been equally important. Sometimes that conflict leads to amusing banter, and sometimes - most notably in Captain America: Civil War - it leads to outright physical confrontation. With more superheroes sharing the screen than ever before, Infinity War will have more chances than ever to put characters together in various combinations and see what kind of chemistry results.

Speaking exclusively to Screen Rant, Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo talked about these combinations and revealed which of the film’s many character team-ups they found personally most enjoyable. Anthony Russo gave the nod to Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, who meet up after a wounded Thor crashes his ship into the Milano, breaking the windshield. He said:

One can only imagine the battle of handsomeness that ensues when Thor and Peter Quill go face-to-face. As for Joe Russo, he went with another pair of male characters, Tony Stark and Doctor Strange. The scene where the two characters meet was recently featured in a promo and, as you might imagine, there’s a fair bit of tension between the arrogant geniuses. Joe Russo actually compared their energy to something you might see between a pair of Siamese fighting fish:

That’s a very tough question, but I might go with a combination of Thor and the Guardians. There’s an interesting dynamic that evolves between the two groups, and especially between Thor and Quill. That is a lot of fun.

Infinity War Trailers and promos have teased a lot of interesting confrontations both of the action and inter-personal variety. In one of the funnier bits of banter from the trailers, Peter Quill gets into it with Tony Stark over what he thinks is a terrible plan. On the action end of the spectrum, another recent clip gave us our first look at Thanos’ lieutenants Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight as they go toe-to-toe with Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon.

I’ll say Strange and Stark. I like two narcissists. It’s like two Betta fish in a tank going at each other.

Of course, in Avengers: Infinity War the characters are all facing the biggest threat they’ve ever faced in Thanos. With the Mad Titan coming to destroy half of humanity (his idea of balance), there’s no time for personal gripes or personality clashes. So whatever tension might spring up between our favorite heroes will surely be set aside quickly in the name of the larger cause of saving half of everyone from doom.

Next: Marvel Has Been Teasing Thanos In The MCU Since Thor

  • Avengers: Infinity War Release Date: 2018-04-27 The Avengers 4 Release Date: 2019-04-26 Ant-Man 2 Release Date: 2018-07-06 captain marvel Release Date: 2019-03-08 spider-man homecoming 2 Release Date: 2019-07-02 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Release Date: 2023-05-05