Co-director of Avengers: Infinity War Anthony Russo describes the film as heist movie revolving around Thanos stealing all the Infinity Stones. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building towards the arrival of Josh Brolin’s Thanos for five years, and next year, audiences finally get to see the destruction and turmoil that The Mad Titan brings with him. Everyone’s favorite heroes will be forced to come together to try and stop him from destroying Earth. He can only achieve this however, should he assemble all of the Infinity Stones – something he’s failed miserably at so far.


Things will start to go Thanos’ way during Infinity War and audiences will spend plenty of time meeting the Avengers’ biggest nemesis. Thanos has previously been described as the main character of Infinity War – a film the Russos have previously said to be a heist film.



CNET spoke to Anthony and Joe Russo about Avengers: Infinity War and asked them what fans can expect when it comes to the film subverting genres. It turns out they’ve been inspired by heist films for Infinity War, specifically using it to approach the way in which Thanos goes about taking possession of the six Infinity Stones.

With “Infinity War,” the biggest new element to the movie is Thanos and the fact that he’s entering the storytelling in a very bold, strong way, to the degree that he’s almost one of the leads. We’ve shaped an interesting narrative around him that in some ways leans heavily on a heist film in the fact that he’s going after the infinity stones in a much bolder, successful way than he has in the past. The entire movie has that energy of the bad guy being one step ahead of the heroes. We looked at a lot of movies that had that heist-style energy to them, [and] that brought some inspiration.


The heist elements at play here should provide the film with a different sense of energy than other MCU films have had. The focus on him as a villain with the heist angle should be a great combination, considering most heist movies have the good guys being the ones pulling off the heist, but this time audiences will be rooting against Thanos. Him being one step ahead of the heroes will keep them on the defensive throughout, possibly adding even more angst to viewers as they fear the heroes won’t be ready for whatever Thanos has planned next.


It also helps tease how the film will play out, with Anthony saying Thanos’ plan is big and bold, confirming he is taking a much more hands on and direct approach this time around. Thanos has been burned in the past by trying to have others do his bidding for him, but now it is finally time for him to be the aggressor, and we know he’ll be somewhat successful in gathering and utilizing the Infinity Stones. It is also great to see they still view him as a main character. They are not shying away from Thanos or the expectations that now come with him. It will hopefully not be too much longer before a trailer is released and everyone can start to see these elements in action.