'Avengers: Infinity War' Will Have a Lot of Unexpected Characters

11/01/2017 12:27 pm EDT

Marvel fans are all-too-ready for the crossover event that is Avengers: Infinity War, when the threat of Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet forces every hero of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to fight together against the threat of universal destruction.

If there's one sentiment the cast and crew of Avengers: Infinity War keep echoing, it's that the best thing about this crossover is the characters it pairs together into fun and dynamic groups. According to Infinity War directors The Russo Brothers, fans will also get the added fun of surprise Marvel characters making appearances in the film.

During an interview with CNET, The Russos were asked about characters we'll see in Avengers: Infinity War, when Joe Russo teased the following:

"There's going to be a lot of unexpected characters. There are more surprises packed into this film than any of the others. Part of that is character interactions, new interesting characters, characters that have made small appearances that are really getting fleshed out in this film. A lot of people enjoy the experience, so I don't want to give anything away, but certainly you can expect lots of surprises."

That statement is open to a pretty wide range of interpretation. For MCU fans, the notion of "unexpected" characters could mean several things:

1. Established characters that we've just never seen in the movies (like Coulson's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Netflix's The Defenders, or The Punisher).
2. Established characters from the movies we never expected to see in Infinity War (Red Skull, The Collector, Nick Fury, Betty Ross, Jane Foster, etc.).
3. Characters that we've never seen before (like Captain Marvel, The Skrulls, Nova, Moon Knight, or any number of new characters being introduced to the MCU).
4. Evil Dopplegangers of the heroes (an old rumor from Inifnity War's early days).

The best thing for Marvel fans is that no matter which of the above scenarios turns out to be true, it will only enhance the enjoyment and significance of this crossover event.

Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018. Other upcoming MCU movies include Thor: Ragnarok in theaters on November 3rd, Black Panther on February 16, 2018, 2017, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengersmovie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.