Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Kevin Feige: Casting Captain America was super hard. I started to think, “Are we not going to be able to find Captain America, and if we can’t, what are we going to do with Avengers? Is the whole thing going to fall apart?” And, then, finally opening ourselves up to Chris Evans, who we had initially sort of just looked past because he was Johnny Storm in a Fantastic Four franchise. Then, bringing him in and showing him the artwork, showing him what was happening in this movie, and he took a weekend to decide.

Chris has always seemed like your most reluctant hero—

Kevin Feige: He’s a reluctant star, but I think he’s become—and I’ve said this to him—for as amazing as all of our actors are at embodying these characters, every single one of them, he’s one that reminds me, alongside Christopher Reeve, as just like “these are the characters.”

I was thinking about that the other day, actually. Anecdotally, even people in my profession who are trained to call actors by their names, not their characters, call him “Cap.” They don’t call Hemsworth “Thor,” but they call Evans “Cap.”

Kevin Feige: I think he’s a great actor, and I think he can do whatever he wants to do, but even when you look at his Twitter account and taking a stand on things, it’s like, “Is he becoming Captain America?” Which I think is great. People forget that we started filming Avengers before either Thor or Captain America were released. What if people hated Thor? What if people thought Loki was ridiculous? What if people didn’t buy this super soldier frozen in ice? We were in the first quarter of production on a giant movie at that time, and we weren’t going to stop. It was sort of all in at that point.

Fans pick 'Avengers,' 'Black Panther' as 2018's most-anticipated films in Fandango poll

Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY

Dec. 28, 2017

Avengers: Infinity War is near and moviegoers are eager for the battle to begin.

The long-hyped coming together of all the Marvel superhero forces (in theaters May 4) tops Fandango.com's list of 2018's most-anticipated movies, followed by Black Panther and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The ticket site surveyed more than 8,000 visitors who described themselves as frequent moviegoers.

"People have been waiting for the entire Marvel Universe to appear onscreen for a long time," says Erik Davis, Fandango's managing editor. "Fans love these combinations of heroes; seeing Guardians of the Galaxy characters interacting with Thor for the first time is going to be really interesting."

Before appearing in Infinity War, Chadwick Boseman will lead the charge as the title character in Black Panther (out Feb. 16), the second-most popular film in the poll. The landmark film — which features a black superhero, a primarily African-American cast and an African-American director (Ryan Coogler) — will make a powerful statement, Davis says.

"Like Wonder Woman in 2017, Black Panther is going to be a film that will enhance a conversation that’s already happening," he says. "Audiences are demanding more diverse casts and stories."

Chris Pratt, another Infinity War star, helped propel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22) to third place. Pratt was also voted the top fan favorite actor in the poll.

"It just goes to show that people love dinosaurs, this Jurassic franchise and a cast with Chris Pratt in the lead," Davis says.

Ryan Reynolds and his untitled Deadpool sequel (June 1) landed in fourth, followed by the spinoff Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25), Pixar's Incredibles 2 (June 15) and Fantastic Beasts follow-up The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16).

Landing at No. 8 is director Ava DuVernay's fantasy adventure A Wrinkle in Time (March 9). The new X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Nov. 2) took ninth, followed by the all-female heist reboot Ocean's 8 (June 8).

The poll also found:

Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow in Infinity War, took highest honors in fan favorite actress. She was followed by X-Men star Jennifer Lawrence, Infinity War's Zoe Saldana, Sandra Bullock from Ocean’s 8 and Emilia Clarke, the Game of Thrones star appearing in Solo.

Infinity War stacked the fan favorite movie male list with Pratt, Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. (No. 3) and Captain America Chris Evans (No. 4). Deadpool Ryan Reynolds was second and Dwayne Johnson, who will be seen in the thrillers Skyscraper and Rampage, landed in fifth.

The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira, whose character Okoye will be revealed in Black Panther and Infinity War, topped the list of rising female movie stars.

Han Solo himself, Alden Ehrenreich, took top male rising star for Solo.

Boseman's Black Panther was named the most anticipated comic-book character in a standalone movie.

Josh Brolin, unrecognizable as uber-villain Thanos in Infinity War, was voted most-anticipated screen villain.

The untitled Cloverfield movie (Feb. 2) took the top spot as most-anticipated horror movie.

The animated Incredibles 2 was voted top family film.

Here are the complete survey results:

Most anticipated movie:

1. Avengers: Infinity War (May 4)

2. Black Panther (Feb. 16)

3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22)

4. Untitled Deadpool sequel (June 1)

5. Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25)

6. Incredibles 2 (June 15)

7. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16)

8. A Wrinkle in Time (March 9)

9. X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Nov. 2)

10. Ocean’s 8 (June 8)


Fan favorite actress

1. Scarlett Johansson (Infinity War, Isle of Dogs)

2. Jennifer Lawrence (Red Sparrow, Dark Phoenix)

3. Zoe Saldana (Infinity War)

4. Sandra Bullock (Ocean’s 8)

5. Emilia Clarke (Solo)


Fan favorite actor

1. Chris Pratt (Infinity War, Fallen Kingdom)

2. Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2)

3. Robert Downey Jr. (Infinity War)

4. Chris Evans (Infinity War)

5. Dwayne Johnson (Skyscraper, Rampage)


Rising female movie star

1. Danai Gurira (Black Panther)

2. Storm Reid (A Wrinkle in Time)

3. Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2)

4. Olivia Cooke (Thoroughbreds, Ready Player One)

5. Pixie Davies (Mary Poppins Returns)


Rising male movie star

1. Alden Ehrenreich (Solo)

2. Winston Duke (Black Panther)

3. Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One)

4. Levi Miller (A Wrinkle in Time)

5. Charlie Heaton (The New Mutants)


Most anticipated comic-book character in a standalone movie

1. Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther (Black Panther)

2. Jason Momoa as Aquaman (Aquaman)

3. Tom Hardy as Venom (Venom)

4. Sophie Turner as Jean Grey/Phoenix (Dark Phoenix)

5. Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp (Ant-Man and the Wasp)


Most anticipated movie villain

1. Josh Brolin as Thanos (Infinity War)

2. Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald (The Crimes of Grindelwald)

3. Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger (Black Panther)

4. Jessica Chastain as the yet-to-be-revealed villain (Dark Phoenix)

5. Nick Castle as Michael Myers (Halloween)

The 10 most must-see films of 2018, from the new 'Fantastic Beasts' to 'Mary Poppins'



Brian Truitt, USA TODAY

Dec. 28, 2017

'Avengers: Infinity War' (May 4)



All of Marvel’s mightiest heroes heed the call in the third Avengers film. And that means never-before-seen pairings like Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) fighting alongside Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy. Downey’s 5-year-old son watches the opening sequence to the Guardians sequel on a loop and “now I get to tell him that I know those guys. Maybe I can even introduce him to a raccoon one day, if he’s lucky,” says the actor, who reprises his role for the ninth time and teases another confrontation with former friend Captain America (Chris Evans). “That’s the hardest for me, because I look at Evans and I just to want to go over and smell him or tell him he looks cool in those sunglasses when he’s walking over to have lunch. And then I’m just staring daggers at him, getting mad. But even that relationship is going to take a turn.”