The new “Avengers” movie will feature 68 characters, which is just bonkers

If you thought keeping track of all seven of the primary characters in the first Avengers was difficult, then good luck with the third and fourth installments of the film series. According to co-directors Anthony and Joseph Russo, fans will meet a whopping 68 characters when Avengers: Infinity Wars Part I and Part II hit theaters in May 2018 and May 2019, respectively.

According to Cleveland.com, the Russo brothers took the time while speaking at the Wizard World Cleveland Comic Con to clarify that in an effort to take full advantage of the wide-ranging Marvel Cinematic Universe, they plan on featuring not 67, as was previously reported, but 68 characters, each falling on one side or another of a looming conflict. And yes, they know they’re putting a lot of pressure on themselves with this move.

“We have to tell a story and that story has to be built around the characters’ emotional arcs,” Joe Russo told attendees. “And we can only have so many of those.”

The brothers will begin filming the next Avengers film in Atlanta in November, but before that, they’ll continue to promote Civil War, the third installment in the Captain America film series. Previously, the duo worked on the second film in the series, Winter Soldier, which took the story of Captain America in a much darker direction to much critical success. With Captain America set to go up against Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man in Civil War, there’s no doubt that they’ll keep up the good work.

“We really did a radical reinterpretation of Captain America in ‘Winter Soldier,” Joe Russo said. “We were twice as aggressive in tone and execution on ‘Civil War.’”

Sounds exciting! Civil War hits theaters on May 6.