For months – nay, years – Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark has held his place as the MCU’s bona fide figurehead, appearing in no less than eight mainline movies as the ice-cool tech genius.
The back-to-back release of Infinity War and Avengers 4 will take that tally to 10, though it’ll also signal a palpable sea change within Marvel’s superhero franchise, as the likes of Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok) and Chris Evans (Civil War) stare down the face of expiring contracts.
There is a silver lining to be drawn from this inevitable changeover, of course: Marvel’s leading creators have left the door open for Black Panther, Black Widow and the Guardians of the Galaxy to spread their wings in Phase 4…and beyond. Speaking of King T’Challa, Chadwick Boseman’s new-fangled Avenger features in the gallery below, which includes three character posters dedicated to the Wakandan King, Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the estranged rogue who is now going by the title White Wolf. We’ve also thrown in some other recently released one-sheets, in case you missed them.
The Winter Soldier is dead; long live the White Wolf. Granted, those of you who have seen Black Panther will know that Bucky Barnes has spent the past few months in an incubation chamber, where Shuri has worked to remove any and all traces of HYDRA.
Because with Thanos bearing down on Wakanda, Barnes (and his new arm!) will prove indispensable in the fight against Marvel’s Mad Titan, who is about to bring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to their knees in his search for all six Infinity Stones.
Suffice it to say, Avengers: Infinity War is about to unfold across an epic, near-unprecedented scope, so we’re intrigued to find out whether Joe and Anthony Russo are able to maintain a compelling, well-thought-out story amid all the CG carnage.