Some folks think Disney is oversaturating the market with Marvel films. And yes, they are coming out pretty hot and heavy, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with them all. To wit, I have yet to see Black Panther, even though I've heard it's amazing.

But then a film like Infinity War comes out, and you leave the theater wondering why Marvel movies don't come out more often.

This one is hard to discuss in much depth without revealing spoilers, so let me tread carefully. As has been teased in numerous films to date, the galactic Big Bad is Thanos (an artfully CGI'd Josh Brolin), and he wants to collect all of the infinity stones (six colorful, all-powerful fragments of the Big Bang) to trick out his big left glove so he can wipe out half the population of the universe so resources are more plentiful for the survivors.

Two of the stones are on Earth (one in the care of Doctor Strange and the other embedded in the forehead of the Vision), so Earth's Mightiest Heroes -- acting on a timely warning from Bruce Banner after Thor, Loki, Heimdall and the rest of the Asgardians are apparently slaughtered, and the Hulk soundly trounced, by Thanos himself -- are gearing up for a major defense. This takes some doing, since the events of Civil War have left them scattered and, in some cases, no longer on speaking terms.

They do pretty well, admittedly, when Thanos sends some of his minions after the stones, but then the Big Purple Guy makes an in-person appearance, and things go south.

There are some pretty key deaths in the opening scene, so you can imagine a lot of bodies litter the field by the end of the movie. (Some of them, presumably, will be undone in the sequel, since they have upcoming movies of their own. There, that's as close to a spoiler as I'm going to get.)

Some of our heroes end up off-world, and some earthly heroes finally meet the Guardians of the Galaxy, neatly bringing two parts of the franchise together. There are battles both large and small, there are victories and losses, and damn if they don't almost beat Thanos that one time, if it wasn't for ... no, wait, that's telling.

There are a lot of moving parts in this movie, and kudos to the Brothers Russo for weaving disparate plotlines and character arcs into a seamless whole. Infinity War boasts layer upon layer of storytelling, and the Russos juggle the threads without fail. There is plenty of humor, as we've come to expect from Marvel, but not so much that it dilutes the drama.

By movie's end, it all ties off neatly, leaving viewers in awe.

And, in some cases, in tears. This movie does not end happily. Believe me, the next Avengers movie, due out in about 12 months, is going to have a BIG opening weekend.

OK, let's rattle off the cast before I wrap this up, because some of these folks have been with us for several movies now, and they've been doing a great job being superheroes. And there are a LOT of stars in this film.

Appearing in Infinity War are Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther, Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier and Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, plus the Guardians: Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis and Dave Bautista as Drax, with Vin Diesel voicing Groot and Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket.

Then there's Karen Gillan as Nebula, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Gwyneth Paltrow (briefly) as Pepper Potts, Benedict Wong as Wong and Peter Dinklage as Eitri, the biggest dwarf you've ever seen.

There are more, but you get the idea.

It's a big cast. An even bigger film. And a huge, much-deserved success for Marvel.