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Apr 16, 2018 By Laura Studarus Photography by Joshua Mellin Avengers: Infinity War

Today in Tokyo, Japanese comic book fans were given an advance look at the upcoming film, Avengers: Infinity War. The 25-minute clip revealed characters from across the Marvel universe coming together to fight the evil Thanos, who’s out to subvert reality and kill half of humanity. You know…general bad guy stuff. (In addition to Thanos, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Star-Lord will all play key roles in the story.)

It’s a film crammed with fast-paced wit and action sequences. However, during a meet-and-greet with the audience (many of which were in elaborate costumes) Tom Holland, who plays Spider-Man, revealed that it wasn’t always as easy as it looked to make a movie with so many A-list characters come together. “When you look at the call sheet it’s so daunting as an actor to see who’s in this movie,” Holland revealed. “I can’t imagine the job of telling them all what to do. Everyone has their moment; everyone has their chance to shine. But when you get everyone on set we’re like a bunch of children. We’re the hardest group to tell what to do.”

Anthony Russo, who co-directed the film alongside his brother Joe, has already experienced working with large groups of actors thanks to his work on ensemble-driven TV shows such as Community and Arrested Development—the former which helped the brothers land gigs in the Marvel film world. The reason viewers are willing to sit through a film with a reported 64 characters, he says, is because they’ve been developed by actors who are willing to see them more as just a collection of super powers. That process, he says, was key when casting Holland as the new Super-Man, who auditioned for the part by literally flipping into the room.

“It was really important to us to cast somebody that had the qualities we loved from the comic book,” Russo said. “His since of youth and innocence. From the first time we saw Tom’s audition, we knew he was the character…Everything he brings to the role is one the screen. There’s nothing I can add.”

“Why did you keep auditioning me?” Holland playfully squawked in return, barely giving his translator time to fill in the Japanese-speaking audience. “It was so stressful!”

Unfortunately, the fans had to make due with waiting for the official release date to see more of Avengers: Infinity War. (Although Russo did reveal that the still unfinished-follow up would feature Tokyo as a key setting.) But on the bright side, all the secrecy that comes from not showing the film until its Los Angeles premiere means that Marvel and Disney don’t need to worry about spoilers. Even the cast, it turns out, has yet to see a final cut. Which might be for the best. As Holland admitted when asked about his favorite character (Spider-Man, obviously), he’s not exactly good at keeping secrets. “I know if I got super powers the first thing I would do is post it on Instagram,” he joked. “The fact that he keeps it to himself is so honorable.”

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Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters April 27. Check out Joshua Mellin’s photos here.