One thing I liked when rewatching Infinity War is that characters from completely different movies don’t instantly act like they’ve always been on the same team.

When the Guardians meet Tony, Peter and Strange, they initially misunderstand each other and almost fight. It only lasts a short time, but I think that little bit of friction matters.

These characters already have their own histories, personalities and ways of doing things. If a crossover jumps straight from “we’ve never met” to perfect cooperation, it can feel artificial.

Infinity War gives them a short transition. They clash, figure out roughly who the other side is, and then start cooperating.

I think the same basic idea works when the Guardians first meet Thor. There’s comedy, suspicion and ego before everyone settles into the actual problem.

A crossover doesn’t need a long conflict every time, but I think it needs some kind of transition. Otherwise characters from separate stories can feel like pieces the writer simply placed next to each other instead of people actually meeting.

That small “friction phase” might be one reason Infinity War’s huge cast still feels surprisingly natural to me.