Frasier's Almighty Influence on Avengers: Infinity War, Revealed

CBR

By Renaldo Matadeen

Published May 6, 2018

The beloved Cheers spinoff show had a mighty impact on the dynamics of Avengers: Infinity War, in particular for one duo of characters.

WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters now.

While Avengers: Infinity War ended on a dour note, with half the galaxy getting killed and whatnot, it was still a spectacle to behold as the Russo brothers united Earth's Mightiest Heroes with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Given the sprawling cast and various intermingling partnerships, the film led to several new dynamics comic fans have waited years to see on screen.

One of them was that of the 'awesome facial hair bros' -- Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange. It's now been revealed that their humorous banter actually took influence from the Emmy-winning ’90s Cheers spinoff, Frasier.

“Frasier was influential in our decision to put Stark and Strange together,” said co-writer Stephen McFeely in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. He revealed that their interplay with each other was based on Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and his just-as-obnoxious brother, Dr. Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce).

“To take Tony and Dr. Strange, who are quite similar — they both have goatees, they’re both arrogant — the impulse might be, ‘Well, let’s keep them separate because they occupy the same space, and everyone will get their own Arrogant Goatee Man,” said fellow writer, Christopher Markus. “But to put them together, one, is funny, and their powers are totally different. But also it helps Tony go, ‘Wow, arrogant people are really annoying … I’m arrogant, huh.’ This is how we become better people in life," he added.

As we saw from both heroes calling each other out before facing Thanos on Titan, they definitely did see themselves reflected in each other as narcissists; although the duo did end up working together for the greater good. Sadly, it was all in vain as Thanos corrected the universe with Strange being one of his victims, leaving Stark to pick up the pieces in Avengers 4.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Benedict Wong, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland and Anthony Mackie. The film is in cinemas now.