Avengers: Infinity War Isn't Direct Adaptation of Comic

Thanos wearing the Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War will not be a direct adaptation of the Marvel comic book run of the same name, directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo have confirmed. In what is being billed as one of the most ambitious crossover events in cinematic history, Avengers: Infinity War promises to bring a decade's worth of Marvel movies to a climax, as the evil Thanos finally makes his way to Earth. This movie event will bring a staggering amount of superheroes together including Avengers favorites such as Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, as well as newcomers like Black Panther, Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

However, the term "Infinity War" is something that fans of the Marvel comics will certainly have heard before. In 1992, a six-issue series written by Jim Starlin was released under that title as a direct sequel to The Infinity Gauntlet, also by Starlin. The Infinity Gauntlet tells the story of Thanos and his attempt to wipe out half of the universe's population using the Infinity Gems, only to be opposed by a collection of powerful heroes. This story is continued in both The Infinity War and 1993's The Infinity Crusade.

Avengers: Infinity War's directorial team, the Russo brothers, have now confirmed that their movie will not be a direct adaptation of these comics. Speaking with The Telegraph India, Joe Russo states:

"We’re inspired by the books, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not the Marvel comic book universe. They’re different. As a comic book fan, I think it’s fun to take elements from the books that I identify with. But if I want a literal interpretation, I’ll just read the book. I think that Marvel jumped off with this cinematic experiment that they started 10 years ago with a narrative that diverts from that. So we wanted to fulfill storylines that we’ve set up in Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War that we want to carry forward into Avengers: Infinity War and the next one; but not necessarily do a literal interpretation of Jim Starlins’ book. But there are great ideas in that book, and we owe a lot of the movie and what’s behind the movie to Jim."

The fact that Avengers: Infinity War will take inspiration from, but not directly adapt, its namesake is something that probably won't surprise many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The vast majority of the franchise's output has taken cues and titles from famous comic stories but none can really be considered faithful interpretations of a specific comic book. For instance, Thor: Ragnarok took plenty of inspiration from the Planet Hulk story and Captain America: Civil War took the essence of the crossover comic it was based upon while also making several sizeable deviations in order to fit neatly into the MCU.

It has already been made apparent in the Avengers: Infinity War trailers that Thanos' reason for assembling the Infinity Stones is the same as in the comic but those familiar with Starlin's work will know that several vital elements are highly unlikely to feature on the big screen. First, comic Thanos is under the employ of Mistress Death in his mission to erase half the universe, whereas Josh Brolin's villain appears to be riding solo in his venture - at least for now. Second, the Infinity series of comics make heavy use of characters such as Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer, the first of which has been merely glimpsed in the MCU and the latter Marvel Studios have only just acquired the rights to.

While the general rule of thumb in comic-to-movie adaptations is to stick as close to the source material as possible, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has thus far struck a sweet balance between honoring the comics and building an entirely new world with original character arcs and stories. The formula has worked so far; it's unlikely to fail in Avengers: Infinity War.