“Snitches end up in ditches,” said by Paul Bettany (aka Vision) during the Avengers: Infinity War conference at the film’s Beverly Hills press junket, was pretty much the theme of the event, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, directors Anthony and Joe Russo and much of the cast did their best to dodge specifics when it came to answering questions about the highly anticipated next installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

avengers-infinity-war-imax-poster — Image via Marvel Studios, IMAX

This time, Disney changed things up by having moderator Jeff Goldblum randomly direct questions to specific panelists or about specific topics, which led to some fun and funny responses, but definitely no spoilers. Here are some of the highlights of the nearly 45-minute conversation.

While there’s a lot of eye candy, dramatic events and spectacular fights, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it still always comes down to the characters, the interpersonal situations with each other, and the personal journeys that they have.

Kevin Feige said they look to the comics when they’re exploring what each film will be about, and they rip out pages and put them on the walls for inspiration. With every movie they’ve made, up to and including Infinity War, there are storylines and sometimes actual lines of dialogue that come directly from those pages. For IW specifically, they kept going back to the omnibus of the “Infinity Gauntlet” for moments from Jim Starlin’s work that they wanted to explore, especially when it came to Thanos.

Co-director Anthony Russo said that, when they began developing the movie, they sat in a room and hung up a picture of every character that’s ever been in the MCU on the walls and they spent months talking about where they could go with each character and how to draw them through the story. The characters have all been on a very specific journey to arrive at this moment, so they thought about where to take the story and characters and how they could combine the characters in interesting ways, and 99% of those ideas didn’t even make it into the movie.

Letitia Wright wishes she had a character like Shuri to look to for inspiration when she was growing up because then she might have stayed in her math classes a bit longer. Black Panther and Shuri has allowed kids to feel like learning is cool and that they can contribute to the world with science, math, technology and engineering, and that women can do it, too.

Image via Marvel Studios

Don Cheadle said that Rhodey’s arc anchors a lot of the other things that are happening in the story being told throughout Avengers 3 and 4. It’s a storyline that goes through both films and factors in, all the way through. It’s cohesive and continues, and keeps both him and the character grounded.

For Chris Hemsworth, Thor meeting the Guardians felt like the first day at school for him because they all knew each other, and he didn’t. He was like the new kid who had nervous butterflies about working with them, until he and Chris Pratt hugged it out.

Infinity War explores the psychology behind the family dynamic issues between Gamora and Nebula and their father, Thanos, and how that’s affected and shaped them. According to Zoe Saldana, they finally have the opportunity to address what it’s like to have a parent that’s so complicated.

While Black Widow is still wearing a leather bodysuit, like she has for the last 10 years, Scarlett Johansson said that she does have a new vest and a new haircut to contend with.

Tom Holland didn’t actually get to wear the Iron Spider suit because it doesn’t actually exist in real life. The new costume is all CGI.

Benedict Cumberbatch said that he got to read a script, but that it might not necessarily have been the final script. And since the script is never the final film, and the film always changes, he’ll find out what’s actually in the film once he gets to see the film.

According to Chadwick Boseman, Infinity War is not Black Panther 1.5, although they do have a strong presence within the movie. He had a lot of fun seeing some of the cast in Wakanda, but IW is its own movie, separate from Black Panther.

Pom Klementieff said that Mantis hasn’t really had a lot of character growth yet. She still has a childlike way of thinking and she asks a lot of questions, bringing a bit of the comic relief.

Image via Marvel Studios

While Elizabeth Olsen said that while she’s not specifically pushing for a Scarlet Witch standalone film, she and Paul Bettany have joked about how they would love to do a “House of M” spin-off that’s a really domesticated, indie version of it.

Sebastian Stan said that there are shades of the old Bucky and that he finally smiles, but when it comes to the Avengers, he’s trying to figure out where his allies are.

Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on April 27^th. For more on the film, click on the links below: