Avengers: Infinity War stars reveal on-set chaos

AS I step onto Marvel Studios’ compound just outside of Atlanta, my passport is taken for examination, the camera on my iPhone is taped up and I’m made to sign a form that says I’ll end up in court if I publish any spoilers.

Such is the secrecy surrounding the most anticipated movie of the year, Avengers: Infinity War.

Marvel has gone to extreme — some might say absurd — lengths to keep the secrets of this blockbuster under wraps.

But during a set tour attended by news.com.au last year, the stars let slip that the mammoth scale of the project, and the studio’s insistence on secrecy, had caused chaos and anxiety among cast members.

With a cast of more than 80 actors and a budget upwards of $300 million, the superhero mashup presented a huge logistical challenge. The difficulty was compounded by the fact that Infinity War, out tomorrow, was shot out of sequence back-to-back with the as-yet-untitled Avengers 4, out in 2019.

As a consequence, the stars tend to talk about the two sequels as if they were one year-long project.

“I’m calling it the Infinity Shoot. It just never ends,” an exhausted Karen Gillan (Nebula) joked while in full blue makeup.

Co-star Elizabeth Olsen, who will reprise her role as Scarlet Witch in the blockbuster, revealed that the actors turned up to set each day with no real idea of what they’d be shooting.

“I feel more unprepared every single day,” she said.

“It’s like that nightmare of going on stage and not knowing a single line, because I’ll literally show up on set and I would have just got the pages that morning because I’m not allowed to see anything.

“Then I come to set — ‘So, stunt team, what are we doing?’ and they’re like ‘I don’t know; we haven’t made a decision yet’. And so I’m just kinda like ‘What are we doing?’

She adds in anguished voice: “This is terrifying!”

Gillan said the actors were “all in the same boat”.

“We’re getting pages hot from the printer,” she said.

The filmmakers were so scared about spoilers that most stars were not given a full script and some were even given scripts with decoy storylines.

“There has been an almost comical level of security, to the point where certain people have certain scripts, certain people have other scripts, certain people have parts of the scripts,” writer Chris Marcus said.

“There are scripts that have maybe not entirely the right story in them.

“We’ve been soaking in this story for two or three years. I kinda think everybody knows what’s going on, but I’ll hear the crew talking going like ‘Do you know why they’re fighting?’”

When, Robert Downey Jnr (Iron Man) said Avengers shoots had actually become more efficient over the years, Marvel newcomer Tom Holland (Spider-Man) butted in.

“It seems like it’s got worse!” he exclaimed. “I never know what I’m doing!”

But Downey Jnr retorted that the on-set conditions brought out the best in the cast.

“This environment makes you very game and if you don’t develop an absurd confidence quickly, you will perish,” he said.

MORE: Chris Hemsworth’s big worry over new ‘Avengers’ movie

Despite this sense of disorganisation, the stars promise movie fans will be thrilled by the final results.

Mark Ruffalo, who will be back in what he promises will be “another surprising incarnation” of The Hulk, says audiences will lose their minds when all of the Avengers assemble.

“It’s going to be messy. There’s going to be a lot of messes in the theatre. Heads exploding, people pooping their pants,” he joked.

“I mean, there are so many great moments when you’re reading [the script] you’re just like: I. Can’t. Wait. To. See. The. Reaction. For. This. Moment.”

Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) said he felt spoilt by the material.

“I don’t know where you go from here. Like, what do you do after this?” he said.

Chris Pratt, who will strap back on his space suit as the cheeky Starlord, said the two movies would build to an unforgettable crescendo.

“You ever been to great fireworks show and you’re like ‘How the f*** did they do that?’ And it’s just like boom, boom, boom. The big finale at the end that gives you goosebumps? That’s this combination of movies.”

Ultimately, the directors — brothers Anthony and Joe Russo — make no apologies for the strict secrecy.

“There’s a lot of very risible things that happen in these films and we wanted to keep them very quiet and private and secret because we want your experience of going to the movie to be the moment where you discover those things,” Anthony said.

Joe added: “It’s an I-want-it-now culture, so we have to protect everybody from themselves and make sure those secrets don’t get out.”

Avengers: Infinity War is out tomorrow.

The journalist travelled to Atlanta courtesy of Disney, which owns Marvel Studios

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