Avengers: Infinity War Casts a New Villain

Irish actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor has confirmed that he is costarring in Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War as a villainous member of the Black Order, Ebony Maw. While the "Big Bad" of the film will, of course, be Thanos (Josh Brolin), the mad Titan, despite his strength and power, will have to relegate some of his evil-doing to his "children", known as the Black Order. The gang of ruthless aliens known as the Black Order was officially confirmed to serve as Thanos' henchmen in Infinity War back in July at the D23 Expo, though they have been heavily rumored before then.

A previously-leaked Infinity War set photo showed Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) scuffling with an actor who was in a CGI suit, making it difficult to identify who they were right away. Basing on the photo, it looks as though the alien character is trying to snatch the Sorcerer Supreme's Eye of Agamotto - which is, as we all know now, powered by the Time Gem, one of the Infinity Stones that Thanos is after. Fans have since speculated about the identity of the mystery bad guy tackling Strange, with Vaughan-Lawlor now confirming that it was him as the mind-controlling Ebony Maw.

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Speaking to RTE Radio 1's Second Captains (via DublinLive) over the weekend, the 40-year-old actor finally talked about his very secretive role, after weeks of mulling about it by himself. Although he did not reveal any juicy details regarding the film or his character, Vaughan-Lawlor did discuss the incredible security checks that he had to go through, in order to make sure his work on Infinity War remains secret for now:

“I am. But it’s like I’m one of those ones where you go into a sentence to say something about it and hope you have a job at the end of the sentence. You sign so many documents and waivers and people ask you about it and you have to give the generic and boring ‘I can’t say too much about it’. But I am doing it and it’s really amazing and an amazing thing to be part of."

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In addition, Vaughan-Lawlor revealed that because he is new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he had to go some extra background checks to ensure that not only will he not casually spoil Infinity War, but that he is also the suitable actor for the job and a deserving one for a spot on the franchise's famed roster:

“With social media there’s so much potential for leaks so (Marvel) understandably want to micro-manage things and make sure it goes out when they are ready. They didn’t know me so when I went over they were meeting me for the first time. They do background checks to make sure you’re not a white supremacist and they’re not hiring someone with weird baggage."

Vaughan-Lawlor is not the only one who first-hand experienced Marvel's tight security when it comes to their properties, especially with Infinity War and its still-untitled sequel, Avengers 4 (which is already in production). Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda Maximoff/Scarlett Witch in the MCU, revealed a couple weeks back that the cast was not given full scripts for Infinity War.

Directed by the Russo Brothers (Joe and Anthony) and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Infinity War is certainly the most ambitious addition to the MCU yet. It will serve as Marvel Studios' 10-year-anniversary movie offering to fans and bring almost every superhero from the franchise together to save the earth from Thanos and his minions.