Hello, everybody.
I guess that’s my entrance music.
Look at this.
Look, look, look, look, look.
Thank you for coming, everybody.
Thank you very, very much, so nice to see you.
So nice to see you.
In any case, a big movie like this
calls for a grand affair like this for a press conference.
And that’s why, I guess,
I’m here in my Grand Master of Ceremonies colours and costume,
‘cause I’m gonna facilitate this hour-long conference,
in which I hope you’ll all leave deeply satiated.
Because they’re all here, believe it or not.
And so, without further ado, what the heck is behind our curtain?
Don... wow.
Wow, look at that!
Kevin Feige.
Look at all of them!
Hi, Tom.
Hi, Anthony Mackie.
Hi, you guys.
Oh, ah, hello.
So, here’s the way this is gonna go.
You’ve seen this from many gameshows.
I’m going to do this.
You know what they call this?
I just learned it today.
This is the hopper.
And I’m gonna take a ping-pong ball, and on these balls are people’s names
and if you have a question for one of those people,
I will call on you, that’s when to raise your hand,
or there may be a category that will suggest one of the people up here,
for which you may have a question, from which I’m then going to choose.
Do you get the idea?
Okay, watch and see if this falls and how quickly this falls apart.
Alright, let’s see.
I’m now going to…
I keep it like this.
Oh, my gosh.
My gosh, Robert Downey Jr.
(Applause)
Does anybody have a question for Robert Downey Jr?
Yes, yes sir.
I saw your hand go up first, yes.
-Are you gonna be in Avengers 4?
Kevin?
Wait, hold on a second.
He’s nodding his head
but let me see what he whispers in my ear.
Yes, we already filmed it!
Which means I guess I’m…
But you never know.
I gotta see in the screening tomorrow.
If I die tomorrow, I’m gonna be confused.
We’ll see.
Excellent question, excellent answer, alright.
Alright, okay, I’m doing it blind, I’m not looking.
This says…
Oh, this is a category.
So, you can ask anybody a question...
who is from Wakanda.
-Thank you.
-My name is Maggie, I’m from Disney.
-I’m also a high school math teacher in Los Angeles.
-And my question is for Letitia.
(Applause)
Hello.
-So, I use a lot of Marvel content in my lessons,
-to keep my students engaged.
-And I was wondering how you see your role
-as a really powerful and fun woman on screen in math and science
-as inspiring kids and teens to pursue STEM fields.
Wow, I think you, kind of, covered it.
Yeah, it’s something that’s super new to me,
to play this character
and to have a character who’s just interested
in all of these amazing subject matters.
I wish I had a Shuri on TV or in the movies
that I could see when I was growing up,
and I would have stayed in my maths classes a little bit longer.
But I’m really happy that the film and this character, Shuri,
has allowed young kids to feel like learning is cool,
and that they can contribute to the world with, you know,
science and maths and technology and engineering.
And also young women, as well,
getting pulled into that whole movement
of feeling like it’s not just a thing for the guys,
it’s also for the young women.
Young women, old women, you know, anyone,
to get into and contribute positively.
So, to have that and for you to use it in your classroom,
and for many other people to use it, too, I’m super grateful,
and I just hope it continues.
Yeah, it’s positive and it’s good, and it’s a good thing.
So, thank you.
Very beautiful question and a very beautiful answer.
Oh, Don Cheadle.
(Applause)
-Hi, Mark Hughes with Forbes, and I’m wondering,
-in terms of each character’s arc being served in Infinity War,
-your character, obviously, had somewhat of a tragic arc,
-the last time we saw, in Civil War. Can you talk about…
Thanks, Vision.
-Can you talk a little bit about
-preparing for Infinity War and carrying over that?
-It’s something that, you know,
-all the characters have tragedies and things in their life,
-but your character is dealing with
-something very immediate to have to overcome
-on top of everything else that’s being faced here.
Well, what I think is really great about having something like this,
in a way, to anchor a lot of the other things
that are happening in the story,
and getting to continue it forward through both of the films,
is that we always get to have these, sort of, down notes, in a good way.
And I think there’s always a lot of eye candy
and very dramatic things happening, and big, spectacular fights,
and really amazing things that we see on screen.
Then, it comes down to these characters
in their interpersonal situations with one another
and their personal journeys that they have,
and where it comes to Rhodey,
I’m glad that this is something that’s carried through
and that, you know, wasn’t just dropped.
It’s a line that actually goes through both of the films,
and comes into play in a very important way.
I won’t give it away,
but it’s something that factors in all the way through,
so it’s nice to have something that’s cohesive and continues
and keeps me grounded and keeps the character grounded.
Hmm…
Totally blind, totally blind.
Okay.
Hey, so, you can ask a question
if you have a question for somebody…
who wears a cape.
-I have a question for Chris Hemsworth,
-‘cause I’m a big Thor fan.
-What scene did you find most challenging to film for this movie,
-and why?
-Was it because of the people in it? Was it because of the director?
-Or was it, you know, just anything like that?
It’s all very difficult
because of the directors and the people in it,
this whole film.
It’s an awful experience, so…
myself, Jeff and Tom are going back to our own movies, from now on.
Well, the first day was what you’ve seen on the trailers.
It was Thor meeting the Guardians.
And it felt like, kind of, first day at school for me, you know.
‘Cause they all knew each other and I didn’t, so I was the new kid.
And they’d all been shooting, and I hadn’t.
And I had some weird nervous butterflies
floating around my body.
But it was…
But I squeezed them out of me, you know,
Chris Pratt gave me a big hug and all the butterflies flew out of my ears,
and we had…
This whole film, for me, I felt like a fan,
and meeting a lot of these people
and the characters that I’d watched on screen and admired,
and so to be on screen with them as Thor but as Chris also
was pretty damn exciting.
Here we go.
Hmm…
Mmhmm.
Ah.
Kevin Feige.
-If there was anything you used
-to, sort of, ground these movies in their origins
-beyond just the characters and the stories,
-anything visually, anything thematically,
-that you’ve used to, sort of, pull all this together?
Well, you will not be surprised to hear, it’s the comics.
It’s the comics that we look at,
usually when there is just the notion of, ‘Let’s do an Iron Man movie,’
or, ‘Let’s have the audacity
to try to do a version of the Infinity Gauntlet.’
It starts with those comics
and us beginning to rip pages out or rip copies of pages out,
put them on the walls and start to be inspired.
And in every single movie we’ve made, up to and especially Infinity War,
there are direct images, storylines,
rarely but sometimes actual lines of dialogue,
that come from those pages
that we’ve put up around our development room for inspiration.
And with Infinity War in particular,
when there were so many characters and so many threads of storylines
from so many movies that we could have pulled from
or could have used as inspiration,
and we did, we kept going back to…
and I think we’ve released some behind the scene videos and things,
and you can see the giant omnibus of the Infinity Gauntlet there,
with all sorts of dog-eared pages and Post-its in there, from moments.
And after everybody sees the movie,
we can talk more specifically about what those moments were,
most of them were surrounding Mr Brolin’s Thanos portrayal,
that came directly from Jim Starlin’s work, there.
So, it is always a guide point.
It’s a North Star for us as we lead these giant productions into reality,
are right from those books and where it all started.
You’re to ask a question
or volunteer to be considered for being called on for a question
if you…
if you are green.
-This is for Zoe Saldana, because from what we heard,
-the story’s told from Thanos’ point of view, part of it,
-and, obviously, I wanted to know how that dimension, sort of,
-pushed your portrayal of Gamora forward,
-because, obviously, it’s a, sort of,
-very emotional, psychological journey for her.
-So, if you could talk about that.
Well, going to what Don was saying,
that besides these kinds of movies
carrying so much action and entertainment and visual effects
that really cater to all of our senses,
we wouldn’t be what we are, I think, in the Marvel universe,
if it wasn’t for those emotional beats
that all of these interrelationships carry.
And, you know, that thread involves
a relationship between parent and child.
And I will speak on behalf of, also, Karen Gillan’s character, Nebula.
We had so much fun with the arc that the Russo brothers
and, obviously, Kevin Feige, you know, spearheading this,
with the relationship that these daughters have with their father,
because they finally get an opportunity to, sort of,
address what it was like to have a dad that’s so complicated.
So, it was fantastic, it was great.
Oh my gosh, so nobody foresaw this.
I think this may be…
Well, I don't know.
This is Zoe Saldana, this is Zoe Saldana.
(Applause)
Zoe, Zoe.
Oh.
Ah.
-Zoe, my question is, we got to see you first,
-and then you get to see everybody, as Black Panther has happened,
-people of colour joining in these superhero roles,
-and you were just so trend-setting and so ground-setting for me
-to see somebody like you on screen.
-And so, when I saw the Black Panther universe added in,
-I was overwhelmed.
-How do you feel, knowing that we, as people of colour,
-are receiving more and more representation
-in this Marvel universe?
I’m happy. I’m super, super happy to be an American right now,
to be in the entertainment industry, to be considered a public figure,
and to also be given the opportunities
by leaders such as our studio heads,
when they take on the task
of broadening the narrative for our stories.
It’s plain and simple,
I think that as actors, regardless of our race and our gender,
we just wanna be given an equal opportunity
to be able to be chameleons
and continue growing and connect with our audiences.
So, when directors and writers and producers
understand that change needs to come from within,
and as public figures,
we have the responsibility
to take the lead in broadening that narrative,
it just makes someone like me,
who would be nothing but a positive recipient,
Super happy.
Because I know what that means for our future generations.
I have three sons, and nothing is making me happier…
I keep saying ‘happy’, but it’s true…
to know that they are going to inherit an influx of storytelling
through media that represents them and makes them feel seen and heard,
and that their lives and their heritage matters,
but only through their merits.
I’m just really happy about that.
Benedict Cumberbatch.
(Applause)
-Mr Cumberbatch,
-you have said in a few interviews that you have read the script,
-but the Russo Brothers also said
-that no actor has read the real final script.
-So, I just want to get to the bottom of that.
-Thank you so much.
I read a script.
Whether I read the script is for them to know
and me to find out when I see the movie tomorrow.
But whatever script you read, it’s never the film, is it?
So, it always changes, and these guys plus it every day,
sometimes after the day,
sometimes will probably be re-plussing this in December,
even after the film is out.
They never stop at the wheelhouse, it’s a busy place to work.
And so, whatever I read is not necessarily what you’re gonna see.
So, I could tell you stuff about it, but it wouldn’t make any difference.
I knew it, I didn’t know how I knew it.
Chadwick Boseman. I knew it.
(Applause)
-Hi, Chadwick.
-I know we have to wait a long time for Black Panther 2,
-but how much of Avengers: Infinity War
-is at least Black Panther 1.5?
Err…
(Laughter)
Avengers: Infinity War is Avengers: Infinity War.
It’s not Black Panther 1.5 or Black Panther 2
or anything like that.
I think we have a strong presence within the movie.
And it was great to have some of these people,
not gonna say who exactly,
in Wakanda.
But it is its own movie,
and it was great to go from what we did with Black Panther
and bring some of that into Avengers.
It was a relief, actually.
But it’s its own thing.
Anthony Russo.
(Applause)
-My question is,
-will we see Agent Coulson come back for the Avengers?
All these unanswerable questions.
When we began developing this movie, you know,
we sat in a room with Kevin, Joe and I,
Markus and McFeely, the writers,
and we had a picture
of every single character that’s been in the MCU,
and we hung it up on a wall all around us.
And we basically spent months and months and months
talking about where we could go with each character,
how we could draw them through the story,
thinking about the very…
Every one of these characters, everybody on this stage,
has been on a very specific journey through the MCU
to arrive at this moment.
And it was a very long creative process that we went through,
thinking about where we could take the story,
where we could take the characters,
how we can combine the characters in interesting ways.
And it was about the most fun creative exercise
I think I’ve ever been through in my life, because it was just us
sitting in a room for months and months
telling each other stories about these characters,
99% of which didn’t make their way into the movie.
But I will say that was our process.
We thought about everybody in the MCU,
we thought about how they could play a role in the story moving forward,
and starting tomorrow, you will see the movie.
Who has a question for Elizabeth Olsen?
(Applause)
-I recently heard
-that you would love it if Scarlet Witch got her own films.
-So, what do you think Scarlet Witch could bring to the table
-if she did have her own solo film?
I would feel thrilled.
I mean, I’ve got Kevin Feige sitting right in front of me.
Paul and I joke a lot about
how much we would love to do, like, a House of M spin-off,
and a really domesticated indie version of it,
and I think that would be a lot of fun.
That part of her story is the reason why I love this character so much.
And, I mean, I’m just happy that I’m still included.
So, I don’t need my own movie, Feige.
Please just bring me back all the time.
This is truly the greatest cast, and we get to work with the best crew
and we get to work with the people who are the best at their jobs.
And so, there’s nothing like this experience anywhere else,
and we’re all very lucky to be here
and enjoy each other’s company all the time.
That’s it.
(Applause)
Thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you.
Danai.
-I’ve heard rumours that some of the women in the Marvel universe
-have pitched Mr Feige an all-female Marvel movie.
-What can we talk about, about that?
No, I know no details on that.
I was just thinking how excited I am about Brie Larson,
who’s shooting Captain Marvel, right now.
(Applause)
And how that’s gonna be a pretty awesome venture.
But, I mean, the awesome thing that I think it happening
that we see happening
across many dimensions in our entertainment industry
is we’re seeing more women take the helm in various realms.
And that is not only about time,
but it’ll make the world a better place, I think.
So, I’m looking forward to the future.
(Applause)
Thank you so much, Avengers: Infinity War cast.
Thank you, press people.
This is the best time I’ve ever had in my whole life.
Thank you, Robert Downey Jr, for coming.
Thank you, Jeff, amazing.
Thank you.
(Music)