'Avengers: Infinity War': Benedict Cumberbatch on How Many Superheroes Are in the Film

If there is anything we know for certain about Avengers: Infinity War, it's that there are going to be a lot of heroes in the movie that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has called a "culmination of the past decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, actor Benedict Cumberbatch is weighing in how many heroes there will be.

In a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the Doctor Strange actor admitted that no one really knows how many heroes are in the film, though he had some ideas.

"No one really knows," Cumberbatch said. "I've hear everything from sort of 36 to 23 was the most frequently quoted number, but I don't even think the Russo Brothers write it in there how many are in there. I'm sure they do actually. They know everything."

The number of characters from the MCU that show up in Infinity War is something that's never been concrete, though the number has consistently been in the double digits. Earlier this year, Anthony Mackie -- the MCU's Sam Wilson/Falcon -- told fans at ACE Comic Con in Arizona that there were as many as forty superheroes in one scene.

"There was one day we were on set and were doing this scene that's in the trailer where we're all running to battle," Mackie said. "You know, all of us are on set and it's like 40 superheroes."

Even if the actual number of heroes ranges closer to 23 than 40, that's still a massive number of heroes. And Cumberbatch might know the real number himself. The actor has said that he's read the film's entire script because of his role in the film.

"Well, it's not Marvel's practice to hand around the whole script of any particular one of their enterprises, especially a film as big as this, and as secret as this," Cumberbatch said. "I kind of had to have a bit of an overview to understand what I was doing in it. Maybe I'm just a bit more stupid than the other actors involved. I just need a little bit of special care. And they were very sweet and chained me to something immovable whilst I read it and unchained me after I finished reading it."

Marvel Studios' Black Panther is now playing in theaters. Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on April 27, 2018. It is followed by Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.