"Black Panther" is relinquishing its grip on the global box office just in time to hand it over to "Avengers: Infinity War." This upcoming blockbuster will feature a who's who lineup of Marvel heroes, and finally give fans the epic showdown with Thanos they've been waiting for.

To help gear up for this major release, here are seven things you need to know about "Infinity War" before heading to the theater (at least twice) to see it.

This time around, the cosmic tyrant known as Thanos (Josh Brolin) is determined to gather all of these artifacts and assemble a weapon called the Infinity Gauntlet. This shiny glove will give Thanos complete power over the fundamental forces of the universe, allowing him to finally achieve his lifelong goal of killing half of all life in the universe. In the comics, his genocidal spree was a tribute to Death (whom he has a major crush on). Not sure yet if that crush factors into "Infinity War," but it was teased during "The Avengers" post-credits scene. Guess we'll find out.

A threat as massive as Thanos requires a full roster of Avengers to combat it. Look for Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) to don his latest swanky Iron Man suit and assemble opposite Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Vision (Paul Bettany). But will we see Ant-Man? Or Hawkeye?

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) will rally his own team to defend Wakanda, one that includes the former Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Plus, a number of "Black Panther" fan-favorites will return, including Okoye (Danai Gurira) and M'Baku (Winston Duke).

It appears that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) will bump into the Guardians early in the film, compelling the team to make a detour to Earth to help out in the fight against Thanos. Expect plenty of head-butting between Iron Man and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), while Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Drax (Dave Bautista) will prepare to finally confront the villain they all despise.

The film will introduce the Black Order, a group of elite killers who all happen to be Thanos' children. Not to mention that they have access to an army that dwarfs even the Chitauri invasion force from "The Avengers."

This blockbuster and its sequel are basically the finale to the current era of the MCU. New heroes are emerging to take the spotlight, and that means some old favorites have to be cleared away.

Obviously, we don't know who might kick the bucket, but the fan consensus is that Cap and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are both in mortal danger right now.

They shot it and "Infinity War" back-to-back (which is nuts!). Look for "Avengers 4" to be a more direct continuation of "Infinity War" than we normally see from the MCU. In fact, the two movies were originally announced as "Infinity War, Part 1" and "Infinity War, Part 2." Whether that means Thanos will also serve as the main villain in the next movie remains to be seen, but expect there to be plenty of unfinished business as the dust settles this time.

"Infinity War" blasts into theaters April 27.