PETALING JAYA, April 28 — Ten years in the making, 18 films and billions of dollars later — Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of Marvel Studios’ gargantuan ambition, and the darkest of their efforts.

Assembling its stable of household names, it appeared an impossible and overambitious task for Marvel to achieve, putting out a film that required a delicate balance from every aspect.

After all, with Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, War Machine, Black Panther AND the Guardians of the Galaxy, it appeared a highly improbable, mammoth task to have that many characters without it being a gruesome mess.

DC struggled with its stable’s union in Justice League last year, with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and Flash — barely scraped by with a semi-coherent storyline.

It gets more complicated for Marvel, however, to not only balance its mashup in its huge cast of superheroes and a seamlessness in storytelling, but also to realise the climax on an epic scale for the big pay-off after a decade of teasing over a series of movies.

Not only did it manage to delicately tackle its execution, Infinity War sets a new standard of comic book translations to celluloid.

With the action kicking in early, and the pace never letting up for a moment, it is a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Each superhero gets their moment in the spotlight, while interacting well with peers as characters are mixed and matched for an applause-worthy effort to bring out the laughs, tears and the gasps.

The script, direction, performance, visual effects and stellar cast comes up with a few gems, including unlikely comic pairings.

Think a face-off of egos from Star Lord and Thor, and Doctor Strange and Tony Stark or unlikely bromances in Thor and Rocket — Infinity War is a skilled tapestry woven in excruciating detail in tribute to the individual qualities of the characters in numerous scene throughout the movie, to alleviate its darker moments.

Visual gratification should be expected, and a few side extras to get fans excited, including new outfits like the iron Spidey suit and some new gear like Thor’s Stormbreaker to colour things up.

Picking up after 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, a fractured Avengers outfit and friends unite to put a stop to interstellar tyrant, Thanos seeking the six Infinity Stones for the ultimate power to decide the fate of the universe.

In the culmination of the constant teasing in virtually every Marvel film, Thanos wreaks havoc with his warped logic in his bid to attain the power to wipe out half of the universe — for the greater good.

There are two noteworthy surprises that can be shared in this spoiler-free review that level ups Infinity War from Marvel’s other offerings.

The first is how Marvel has finally overcome its biggest challenge of forgettable and often lame villains to date with the tale of jewellery-loving Thanos seeking to adorn his golden gauntlet.

A well-developed, relatable and believable character, Josh Brolin’s Thanos is well fleshed-out and steps forward to put to rest concerns that he would remain merely glowering in the background.

After years of teasing about Thanos with several appearances, the Purple One delivers with a killer outing in large, lethal doses with a justification of genocide that is plausible.

Make no mistake. The real star of this movie IS Thanos.

Every movement and subtle expression brings the digitally generated character to life, with the twisted reasoning of his logic making the outlandish appear simply complexed — and human.

The second surprise is the unexpected twist in the end.

It suffices to say, Marvel has been unaffected by Hollywood’s inane need to tie everything up with a pretty, pink bow and unleashes a dark, grim and foreboding tone that will kick off the second part of the Infinity War, due next year.

And by the end of it, the many strong personalities continue to endear with their individual eccentricities and quirks (including the Guardians) enough to elicit gasps from the audience, especially during those intense butt-clenching moments that are aplenty from the get-go.

The studio and the production have done well in guarding the twists, to the point of keeping the cast in the dark with fake scripts.

At two-and-a-half hours, Infinity War, scripted by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo is a whole lot to process and debate over.

Just a note for fans though without spoilers — bring along a box of tissues.

And stay for the one post-credit scene for a clue of just who will possibly be the next to make an entrance soon.

Avengers: Infinity War is showing in all cinemas nationwide.