With Thanos being such a threat in Avengers: Infinity War, director Joe Russo has discussed why the Mad Titan actually needs henchmen. We got our first look at the Black Order at D23 last week, as Josh Brolin unveiled the team of alien villains that would be plaguing the Avengers.

It seems the Mad Titan won’t just be a rampaging monster for the entire film, with Black Dwarf, Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw and Proxima Midnight all set to causing havoc for the team. We recently got to see Doctor Strange fighting one of them, and given the effects on the Sorcerer Supreme, the Avengers will have their hands full. But, as this is Thanos’ final stand, why does he even need backup?

After Marvel Studios’ massive SDCC Hall H panel, Joe Russo spoke to Coming Soon about getting the chance to use the characters and how they pave the way for Thanos:

Rather than stealing the spotlight from the Mad Titan, the quintet are actually there to boost his menace, slowly building to the epic showdown that was showcased in the footage shown both at D23 and SDCC.

“We get inspired by a lot of different material when we’re working on the movie. We pulled from both Infinity runs for this, and look, there are a scary bunch of characters who I happen to think, when I read the Infinity run, were super cool. And when I got the opportunity to make this movie, I said I have to do the Black Order. You know, we have so many characters and Thanos needs to be teased out. You can’t have the characters challenging him every step of the way. There has to be characters that they have to go through to get to him. The Black Order is the perfect cast of characters to do that with.”

Russo went further into the specifics of the villains and how they were being adapted. When asked about their powers, he revealed they are changing some of their techniques and history to fit with the tone of Avengers 3:

How essential the Black Order will be to the film is yet to be made clear - they weren’t in the footage and voice actors haven’t been cast - but as Thanos is the main character of Infinity War it’s expected they’ll have quite a presence. They’re sure to be more prominent in the eventual trailer, which is expected to arrive around the release of Thor: Ragnarok in October.

“Frankly, we’re altering their powers to things that I felt were in better service of our storytelling. But also things that I think are cooler and things that I want to see, and again, as a comic book fan, as I read a book, I have my own ideas about what I would do with those characters, the same way that a writer would, the way any writer would when he takes on Spider-Man or Captain America. Everyone brings their own spin to it. So we brought our own spin to the Black Order.”

Next: Avengers: Craziest Fan Theories About Infinity War

Source: Coming Soon

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