Avengers: Endgame is on track to becoming one of the greatest hits in cinema history, raking in a record-breaking £694million at opening.
The Marvel blockbuster is predicted to surpass its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War, by £200million, which would crown the new superhero film the largest debut in the history of cinema – and possibly the first film to break one billion dollars in less than a week.
Endgame’s roster includes at least 30 superheroes, with Chris Evans’ Captain America enjoying one hour and six minutes of screen time – the most of any of the film’s stars – followed by Robert Downey Jnr’s Iron Man with one hour and two minutes, and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor with 45 minutes.
British actress Karen Gillan, known for playing Amy Pond in Doctor Who, has the most screen time of all the female stars, and the fourth most of all, appearing for 41 minutes as the cyborg Nebula, but the franchise’s latest star Captain Marvel, played by Brie Larson, appears for only 15 minutes, despite her recent blockbuster.
Endgame’s roster includes at least 30 superheroes, with Chris Evans’ Captain America enjoying one hour and six minutes of screen time – the most of any of the film’s stars
Endgame is the sequel to Infinity War and is the last of 21 earlier titles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (pictured: Chris Evans in Captain America – Civil War, 2016)
Robert Downey Jnr’s Iron Man enjoys one hour and two minutes of screen-time in Avengers: Endgame (pictured: Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War)
Pictured left: Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. Right: Scarlett Johansson in The Avengers, 2012
All three stars are thought to be making their last Marvel appearances as their multi-million pound contracts come to an end.
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow enjoys 33 minutes of screen time, and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie appears for just eight minutes, The Sun reported.
Avengers: Endgame, is directed by the Russo brothers, who shot last year’s Avengers: Infinity War.
Endgame is the sequel to Infinity War and is the last of 21 earlier titles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a blockbuster series of films that commenced with Iron Man in 2008.
Avengers: Infinity War, which ran 2 hours and 29 minutes, is the current record holder for biggest global opening, grossing £490million – the biggest global opening of all time.
Endgame has already shattered pre-sale records, including selling more advanced tickets in its first 24 hours than any picture in history.
The highest grossing film of all time so far is James Cameron’s Avatar, released in 2009, which raked in £2.16billion at the global box office.
The number two spot goes to another of Cameron’s works – Titanic, 1997, which made £1.7billion at the box office.
Chris Hemsworth’s Thor has 45 minutes of screen-time in Endgame, and The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, has 40 minutes
Pictured: Josh Brolin as Thanos in the previous installment – Avengers: Infinity War, 2018, which ended with an infamous twist
Avengers: Endgame follows on from Infinity War’s infamous twist, which saw half of all life in the universe disintegrate after Thanos collected all six infinity stones on the Infinity Gauntlet.
With only Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Hulk, Shuri (Letitia Wright), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Okoye (Danai Gurira), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) left on Earth – the team are now left in limbo.
While Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Nebula (Karen Gillan) are adrift in space with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) alive in an unknown location.
The remaining Avengers must team up in one final stand against Thanos, and will also have to figure out how to bring back their loved ones.
Left to right: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr, Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner attend a fan event for Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame in South Korea