Getting in shape for a superhero movie is practically half the battle, so it's exhilarating
to watch an actor rise to the occasion of getting ripped for his or her role.
From Scarlett Johansson's acrobatics as Black Widow to Chris Hemsworth's otherworldly biceps,
the cast has to almost become otherworldly themselves before they can appear on-screen
for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And with Avengers: Infinity War arriving as easily the biggest, most bombastic Marvel
film yet, there's no doubt the massive cast had to really crank it into overdrive to get
fit for the big battle.
Here's how our heroes shaped up to show down with Thanos in Infinity War.
Heavy lifting
Sebastian Stan's friendship with his personal trainer Don Saladino is pretty well documented.
They're all over each other's Instagram feeds, and Saladino was a key player in getting Stan
shredded for his role as the Winter Soldier.
Stan stuck with Saladino while prepping for the third Avengers outing and revealed that
the key to their training method is to keep it heavy.
Most bodybuilding workouts tend to involve lifting lighter weights at higher rates of
repetition.
Instead, Stan and Saladino kicked every day off with big, bulky lifts.
There are videos online of their workouts, with plenty of bodybuilding-style lifts.
"You know you get up on the morning.
You know, it's not…
Even on the weekend if it is, getting there for an hour.
You know, get through it.
Push yourself through it.
Your tired.
Do something."
It clearly got the job done, as Stan is looking killer as the Winter Soldier.
"Not bad for the end of the world."
Eating right
Exercise is obviously very important to getting an actor in shape to play a superhero, but
dieting can be just as crucial.
For her return as the Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen kept nutrition in mind.
Olsen's nutritionist Philip Goglia has openly discussed Olsen's goals for Scarlet Witch
in the new film and says she focused heavily on body composition.
This meant her diet was radically restructured, and she eliminated gluten, dairy, and yeast
altogether, and ate seven to eight meals per day, largely consisting of fruits, vegetables,
and chicken and fish as proteins.
It honestly sounds like a nice diet, right up until you remember it means saying no to
pizza.
Mixing it up
Chris Evans has been hitting the gym for nearly ten years now to get in shape to play the
Star-Spangled Avenger, Captain America, so to keep his routine from getting stale, Evans
has incorporated quite a bit of variety into his routine.
Evans' doesn't play up any singular exercise over others and instead hops around from body-weight
movements like pull-ups to weighted ones like classic bicep curls and kettle weights.
The most surprising thing about all of his workouts is just how approachable they are.
Sure, they're going to be a little intense for anyone who's never done them, but Evans'
workout can probably be done on your own at your local gym.
The buddy system
Scarlett Johansson has been playing Black Widow for nearly ten years now, and those
constant workouts can get to be awfully monotonous.
So Johansson's solution is to go to the gym with a friend, in this case, co-star Sebastian
Stan.
While it doesn't seem to have been an everyday thing, Johansson tagged along for some workouts
with Stan and his trainer in preparations for the shoot.
Who doesn't love the mental image of Black Widow yelling at a sweaty, exhausted Bucky
to squeeze out one more rep?
Making arm day
To become the God of Thunder, Chris Hemsworth has to get pretty huge all over, but there's
one area he seems to pay special attention to.
"He's so… he's huge!"
Thor's hammer-swinging arms need to be huge, and since his get-up tends to be sleeveless,
his trainer maxes out the days they work those muscles.
Hemsworth is already a pretty big dude, but he's by no means Thor-sized at all times.
It makes the work he puts into getting big enough to play the god of thunder all the
more impressive.
"Are you mocking me?"
Fight training
Even the most artistic superhero films feature a few central scuffles, so it's not just about
looking tough.
The actors also have to convince audiences that their sparring techniques are legitimate
during action scenes.
And since his character is arguably one of the most hand-to-hand fighters of the bunch,
Tom Holland doubled down and got into the ring at a boxing gym.
Holland has been boxing for some time now, but incorporating boxing into his workouts
prepping for Infinity War ensured that the muscle he put on for his newest outing as
Spider-Man wouldn't just be cosmetic.
Holland can throw a punch for real, which lends a cool air of legitimacy to any moments
in which Spidey's fists get to work.
Odd inspiration
Dave Bautista has now gotten in Drax the Destroyer shape for two Marvel films, and he managed
to avoid plateauing for Infinity War by taking inspiration from a costar's progress.
"A handsome, muscular man."
Josh Brolin didn't have to get ripped to play Thanos, thanks to the magic of visual effects,
but Thanos isn't the only comic character he's playing this year.
He'll also be appearing in Deadpool 2 as Cable, and he definitely got jacked for that role.
Brolin is on the older side for a superhero actor, and Bautista took a good bit of inspiration
from seeing his costar get buff for his turn as Cable.
He publicly talked about how it inspired him to train even harder to prep for his role
as Drax, getting the character pumped up to maximum levels of destructive capabilities.
Keeping secrets
Although many of his co-stars are happy to open the books on their fitness regimens for
the MCU, Chadwick Boseman likes to keep a few of his cards close to the chest.
Black Panther and Infinity War were shot around the same time, so Boseman's fitness routine
doubled as preparation for both appearances.
While he later opened up a bit more, Boseman actually kept pretty mum when asked how he
was getting in shape for the film, saying:
"A lot of strength and flexibility, but I'm not going to say any more.
[...] How do you know it's not kickin' right now?
I might be covering something up."
In other words, Boseman was suggesting that he was already in superhero shape long before
he signed up to play T'Challa . That's about as much modesty as you might expect from the
King of Wakanda.
"I never freeze."
Learning the blade
Sometimes weightlifting and cardio alone won't cut it when it comes to preparing for the
physicality of a role.
For Black Panther star Danai Gurira, weapons training was just as key as anything to ready
her for the role.
Gurira's history of sword combat training for her part as the katana-wielding Michonne
on TV's The Walking Dead came in handy for the actress.
Her MCU character Okoye the leader of the Dora Milaje, might not use a katana herself,
but Gurira found the combat training for Michonne helped tremendously.
Her ability to swing a spear was completely convincing in Black Panther, and considering
she and her army will have their hands full in Avengers: Infinity War, we're in for a
pretty awesome fight when the new film drops.
"Boom!"
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