Your Official 'Avengers: Infinity War' Cheat Sheet!

The time has come and Avengers: Infinity War is almost upon us. What is being heralded as "the biggest crossover event in history" is about to hit screens around the world, and lucky for you we’ve rounded up everything you need to know before the big show.

Here’s our quick recap on all the heroes in the Marvel Multiverse! (Warning: some SPOILERS if you're not caught up on the MCU!)

IRON MAN (Robert Downey Jr.)

Let’s start with the main man himself, Tony Stark. Last time we saw him, he was trying to draft a young Peter Parker into the Avengers ranks in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He’s going to need all the help he can get after the events of Captain America: Civil War, which saw Tony facing off against his former ally, Steve Rogers (Captain America), and splitting our hero squad in two.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (Chris Evans)

Which brings us to the other side of the Avengers divide: Steve Rogers. In the last moments of Civil War, we saw Cap giving up his shield, breaking out from his imprisonment, and taking the others who had been against Stark (and the new Accords that would force all superhumans to register with the government) with him. He went on to write a lovely letter to Iron Man and grow out a rugged beard that has him looking better than ever. But who is Cap without his shield, you ask? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

THOR (Chris Hemsworth)

Next up we have the God of Thunder himself. He was last seen in Thor: Ragnarok having what can only be described as a pretty bad day -- he was forced to destroy his homeland, Asgard, and flee with all of his people. Things only got worse from there when his escape ship ran smack-dab into Thanos’s much larger ship (Thanos is the giant purple villain trying to destroy the universe; we’ll get to him later). In other news, Thor got a haircut, lost an eye, discovered he had an evil sister, and developed a beautiful bromance with The Hulk. Lets hope they make it out of this one alive.

THE HULK (Mark Ruffalo)

The big man, otherwise known as Bruce Banner, is still close by Thor’s side when we leave him in Ragnarok, but he’s had quite the journey getting there. Banner went on the run and straight into space after Age of Ultron, and unfortunately he got stuck in Hulk form on the planet of Sakaar and was forced to fight for the Grand Master’s viewing pleasure. Thankfully, Thor talked some sense into him, and together they started a revolution, sacrificed Asgard, and (hopefully) destroyed Hela. We can’t wait to see what those crazy kids get up to next.

BLACK WIDOW (Scarlett Johansson)

S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff might have an awkward reconciliation with her Avenger gang. She was last seen in Civil War betraying Iron Man and siding with Captain America, so that could make for a rocky reunion. On another note, Romanoff shared some interesting ~vibes~ with Bruce Banner in Age of Ultron... will the flame still be alive after all this time apart?

SPIDER-MAN (Tom Holland)

Our sweet adolescent Peter Parker really came into his own in Spider-Man: Homecoming. After his superhero debut in Civil War and saving the city in Homecoming, Stark made him a fancy new suit and gave him a chance to join the professional Avenger ranks… which he promptly turned down to go back to normal life as a superhuman teenager.

WAR MACHINE (Don Cheadle)

Iron Man’s right-hand man, James Rhodes, was hit by an accidental blast from Vision in Civil War and left crippled after falling straight out of the sky. Last we saw, he was relearning how to walk with help from some new Stark technology.

DR. STRANGE (Benedict Cumberbatch)

Dr. Stephen Strange popped up quickly in Thor: Ragnarok to help Thor find his father, Odin, in an effort to get Loki as far away from Earth as possible. Other than that, Strange has been keeping to himself, mastering the mystic arts, as one does. He also has one of the six infinity stones that Thanos is after, so things aren’t looking good there.

BLACK PANTHER (Chadwick Boseman)

Black Panther, also known as King T’Challa, is the latest and greatest addition to the Marvel family. By the end of Black Panther, we found ourselves in Wakanda, the secret African Country full of Vibranium (the crazy strong metal that Cap’s shield is made from) and technology that could rival even Tony Stark’s. Last we knew, T’Challa was hiding Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes after the events of Civil War. He also decided it was time he share Wakanda’s wealth with the rest of the world – probably bad timing in hindsight as Thanos is gearing up to hit the Earthlings right where it hurts.

VISION (Paul Bettany)

Formerly Iron Man’s A.I. assistant, Vision was uploaded into an artificial body back in Age of Ultron and came to life with a little help from the mind stone, another one of the six infinity stones. That stone remains stuck squarely in Vision’s forehead, so there are some good odds that he might not be long for this world once Thanos comes to pry it out of him. He also sided with Iron Man in the Avengers showdown, so he’s still in Tony’s good books.  

FALCON (Anthony Mackie)

Sam Wilson was the first Avenger to defect from Iron Man’s side and join Captain America’s against the proposed Accords. We last saw him being broken out of prison by Cap, but we’re still waiting to see how our favorite squad will get back together.     

SCARLET WITCH (Elizabeth Olsen)

Wanda Maximoff has caused quite a bit of trouble in our Marvel Multiverse. She accidentally killed some diplomats in Civil War, which resulted in the Government Accords, which caused this whole mess between our heroes. She was one of the crew that escaped prison thanks to Cap and is hopefully on her way back to her almost-lover Vision, although, as we already know, that might not last very long.

BUCKY BARNES (Sebastian Stan)

Poor Bucky has been through the wringer. He’s Captain America’s OG best friend who was brainwashed, forced to kill Iron Man’s parents, and then framed for the bombing which killed Black Panther’s father. Thankfully, by the end of Civil War, his name has been cleared of the bombing but remains in Stark’s bad books. He was last seen hiding in Wakanda where Shuri is working on fixing his broken brain.

LOKI (Tom HIddleston)

Thor’s adopted brother has been up to quite a bit. In Ragnarok, Thor discovered that Loki had been disguising himself as their father, Odin, and reigning over Asgard as King. Eventually he exposed himself, helped Thor defeat Hela, and is on the Asgardian ship that runs into Thanos. He is in possession of the space stone, and it might just be me, but it’s looking like he’s about to happily hand it over to Thanos in the Infinity War trailer. Who knows, though, he might surprise us.

HAWKEYE (Jeremy Renner)

We’re honestly not too sure what the deal with Clint Barton is. He came out of retirement in Civil War to save Scarlet Witch but went right back to civilian life with his family after the prison break and has yet to be spotted in an Infinity War trailer. We’ll keep you updated.

ANT-MAN (Paul Rudd)

Scott Lang joined Captain America’s crew in the Civil War face-off and escaped prison along with the rest of them. It has been confirmed that he’ll be in Infinity War, we’re just not sure how big a role he’ll play (especially since, you know, he’s the size of an ant).

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

It has been about 3 years in the Marvel Multiverse since the events of Guardians Vol. 2, so it’s hard to say what they’ve have been up to. Here’s what we do know: Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) discovered that his father, Ego, was a crazy celestial being that wanted to spread himself all over the galaxy. Of course, Peter had to stop that plan and destroy Ego, but he was left with a lot less power and a lot more daddy issues. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is the adopted daughter of Thanos but, predictably, he was a terrible father, so she’s on board to bring him down. The last we know, she was trying to make amends with her sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan), and maybe having a thing with Star-Lord. Drax (Dave Bautista) and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) are joining the fight against Thanos, and Groot is no longer our sweet dancing baby -- he’s entering the dreaded teenage years.

THANOS (Josh Brolin)

And finally, we get to our villain. The last time we saw Thanos was in an post-credits scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron. We know he’s on a quest to collect all 6 infinity stones, which will give him unlimited power and control over the universe. Here’s to hoping that our Avengers can kiss and make-up before Thanos fulfills his quest!

So there you have it, your certified cheat sheet on the key players of Avengers: Infinity War, we can’t wait to see what happens. Make sure to catch Infinity Wars in a theatre near you!

(Image via Marvel Entertainment)

- Kyla Killackey, YH Contributing Writer