UPDATE: Read our prediction of the 40 characters in Avengers: Infinity War's major action sequence.

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It looks as if Avengers: Infinity War will be even bigger than previously anticipated, as close to 80 cast members will feature in the epic Marvel movie. When The Avengers first arrived in 2012, it not only tied together a number of solo films but featured a huge ensemble of actors and heroes. Since that time, even singularly-focused films have featured multiple heroes, villains, and supporting characters. Naturally, Avengers was always going to be a blockbuster like no other given it will combine the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a number of smaller characters and new additions.

At one point, Avengers 3 was said to have over 60 characters, with fans and critics worried a single movie couldn't sustain so many roles. Since then, that fear has largely been swept aside as the sheer audacity of the project has kept even casual moviegoers eager to see what happens this May. Chris Evans says Marvel can't lose at the theaters, and so far he's been right. But while Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers may well be able to balance a variety of different storylines, the character count is only growing.

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The Toronto Sun spoke with Chris Hemsworth recently about his film 12 Strong and the subject of Avengers: Infinity War naturally arose. The actor expressed how excited he was for a couple of character meet-ups in particular, but also provided a staggering new number for the cast's size.

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“This is one of the biggest things in film history and to be a part of it was just incredible. I think what these characters are about to face — with Thanos — there’s been nothing quite like it. There are 76 cast members or something like that. I think what people are going to be excited about is what I was excited about and that’s Thor meeting the Guardians and Iron Man meeting Doctor Strange.”

While a number of the roles are likely small, 76 cast members ("or something like that") is indeed a huge number for an ensemble. And in all likelihood, Hemsworth is talking about named roles and not just minor parts. Naturally, many of these characters will be nothing more than glorified cameos, but it's exciting to know that smaller MCU characters and even heroes from the TV shows could fill some of these roles. For now, we only know of the movie characters set to return, but expect a few surprises in what Hemsworth assures will be a monumental film.

“They’re going to be massive. I finished literally two days ago and I looked at (directors) Joe and Anthony (Russo) and said, ‘I don’t know how you guys have gotten this far and I don’t know how you’re going to hold it together and complete this thing, but my hat’s off to you.’"

It seems that even Hemsworth himself isn't totally sure how the Russos and their collaborators will pull off the feat, but it will be impressive if they do. Just today we learned of a scene in Avengers: Infinity War with 40+ characters, itself an estimate even higher than the biggest team-up we'd previously heard about. Granted, this will probably be a spectacle-based fight scene akin to the airport battle in Captain America: Civil War, but focusing on that many elements alone will be tricky. Adding in plot and character development will be even harder. Whatever the case, we won't have to wait much longer to see if Avengers: Infinity War can manage to make it work.

MORE: Chris Evans Autograph References Avenger: Infinity War Fan Theory

Source: Toronto Sun

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