Do you hear that? That’s the sound of Marvel’s heroes quaking in their tights in the run-up to Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos, the MCU’s biggest villain ever, is stepping away from his space throne and rampaging to our world in search of the Infinity Stones, and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes might not be enough to stop him this time. Empire’s May issue has the inside story on Marvel Studios’ biggest film (and biggest risk) ever, with six collectible covers showing off the Avengers (now teaming up with the Guardians, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther) and the avenged (Thanos demanded his own cover, and we weren’t going to argue). Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside.
Avengers: Infinity War
It’s got a good shot at becoming one of the biggest films of all time, and we went on set in Atlanta and Edinburgh to bring you the inside scoop. We spoke to Robert Downey Jr, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt, the Russo Brothers and more about the intergalactic smackdown, and nabbed exclusive images to bring you the perfect primer for Marvel’s most daring film yet.
A Quiet Place
Jim from The Office US was always one of the funniest characters in the show, and he barely needed to open his mouth — just a wry glance at the camera could do it. Now John Krasinski is bringing his gift for silent emoting to something entirely different — a horror film he’s co-written, directed and starred in called A Quiet Place, in which a family lives in total silence to avoid detection from unseen terrors attracted to noise. Krasinski himself wrote for Empire about the film’s creation.
Isle of Dogs
After bringing his heavily stylised and mannered filmmaking approach to claymation in Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson is back in animated form with Isle of Dogs. We spoke to Anderson, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola all about the canine cast.
On.Screen
Get our verdicts on Ava DuVernay’s Disney adventure A Wrinkle in Time, Brit chiller Ghost Stories, stylish thriller Thoroughbreds, Steven Soderbergh’s iPhone thriller Unsane and plenty more.
Re.View
On the home entertainment front, Luca Guadagnino breaks down Call Me By Your Names’s biggest moments, we binge-watch six Julia Roberts films back-to-back, wax lyrical on Ghibli masterpiece Spirited Away, and rank the top 10 Brian De Palma films.
10 Years of the MCU
Oh, didn’t we mention? This month’s issue comes bundled with a bonus comic-sized mini-mag celebrating a decade of Marvel magnificence. Inside you’ll find our ranking of the 50 Greatest MCU Moments Ever, features on Iron Man, Avengers Assemble and Guardians of the Galaxy, and a very special re-telling of how the Russo Brothers mapped out Civil War’s airport fight.
Buy the May issue of Empire from good and evil newsagents, or pick up a copy online here.