The stakes are going to be high in Avengers: Infinity War. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: Civil War) and based on a script from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Civil War), the highly-anticipated Avengers film culminates the past decade of storytelling within the Marvel Cinematic Universe for an ultimate showdown between the Earth's Mightiest Heroes (along with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy) and the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his loyal Black Order.

Obviously, there are going to be a lot of characters in the movie. At one point it was reported that there would be at least 76 characters coming together from all corners of the MCU, which makes sense given that the Russo brothers also recently mentioned that every narrative thread from each movie in the shared universe will connect in Infinity War in one way or another. And considering that most of the bigger movies have centered around the Infinity Stones, which Thanos and his Black Order are seeking out in Avengers 3, it's clear that the stakes are going to be quite high. After all, if Thanos gets his hands on all six Infinity Stones, it's game over for the Avengers.

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Speaking with Screen Rant and a handful of other outlets on the set of Avengers: Infinity War last summer, Anthony Russo explained that the stakes in the upcoming film are much higher than they have been in any other Marvel movie.

"We'll say this. We like mature storytelling. We like dramatic storytelling. We like intense storytelling. I think we appreciate conflict, and we appreciate stakes. And without stakes, there really isn't a lot of value to the story. And I think if you look at the Marvel [Cinematic] Universe as a whole as a story that's been told for ten years, you can look at this as the climax. And the stakes will be higher in this movie than they've ever been, times ten."

Again, it's all about the Infinity Stones. So far, Thanos is shown to have obtained at least two Stones in this movie - the Space Stone obtained from the Tesseract that Loki took from Asgard's vault in Thor: Ragnarok and the Power Stone that he presumably steals from the Nova Corps sometime in the beginning of the film - but he still has another four to go before he completes the Infinity Gauntlet and becomes the most powerful being in the history of the universe.

At the moment, three of the other Stones are being kept by Doctor Strange (Time Stone), the Collector (Reality Stone), and Vision (Mind Stone). However, the Soul Stone's location remains a mystery. It's orange in color and was believed to be in Wakanda, though it wasn't present in Black Panther. Instead, it seems it should be revealed sometime in Infinity War. And since a great deal of the film takes place in Wakanda, the fourth Stone just might be there after all.

Even though Thanos needs all the Infinity Stones to complete the Infinity Gauntlet, each one he obtains imbues him with profound power. Plus, Vision's life was given to him by the Mind Stone, so it stands to reason that he might die if it's taken away from him. If, for some reason, Thanos doesn't take the Stone from him, then it's possible that many Avengers will perish in their fight with the Mad Titan. And because of that, the stakes are going to be much higher in Avengers: Infinity War than any MCU film that came before it.

More: What Happens To The Infinity Stones AFTER Thanos?

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