Five years after it was first released, the legendary MCU film Avengers: Endgame still holds a special place in the hearts of fans. The cinematic event was preceded by the equally compelling Avengers: Infinity War, which saw many of the MCU’s beloved heroes be a victim of Thanos’ fatal Snap.
One of the highlights of the fourth Avengers film was the famous ‘Portal’ scene, which saw all of the heroes return back after the OG Avengers reverse the snap. The goosebumps-inducing scene is still remembered to this day by fans. However, the initial plan of the team behind the film reportedly did not include the legendary scene at all.
Avengers: Endgame Originally Did Not Include The Epic Portals Scene
Marvel fans saw Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans as Iron Man and Captain America for the last time five years ago in Avengers: Endgame. The legendary film was the highest-grossing film of all time for almost two years until it was surpassed by Avatar. The film earned $2.7 billion at the box office and is often regarded as a cultural milestone (via Box Office Mojo).
The film was the climactic event of the ‘Infinity Saga’, which had been built up since Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. The film franchise seems to have hit its peak with the film as fans left the cinemas satisfied, despite the Russo Brothers having the momentous task of tying all the loose ends of the franchise till then.
The highlight of Avengers: Endgame still remains the epic ‘Portals’ scene, which saw almost all of the heroes introduced in the MCU since 2008 appearing to fight Thanos’ army. The scene sees legendary heroes such as King T’Challa, Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spider-Man return after being killed by the Snap. The scene is preceded by Chris Evans’ Captain America finally wielding Thor’s hammer.
However, the initial plan for the film reportedly did not include the ‘Portals’ scene at all. According to VFX supervisor Max Deleeuw, the scene originally included a different shot of all the actors which reportedly did not work for the film at all. He spoke to ComicBook.com,
“There was a version of the cut, the day that we had all the actors together, and it was like this long panning shot across all the actors…It was the day that everyone was there and it was like this giant, expensive in essentiality you had all the actors there, but it just didn’t play as well as we wanted.”
Deleeuw mentioned that he then told the makers to include the portals and bring the heroes one by one as it would give the fans a chance to welcome their favorite heroes.
Marvel’s VFX Supervisor Gave Fans The MCU’s Most Epic Moment
The ‘Portals’ scene is still regarded to be the most epic moment in the history of the MCU. The scene was eleven years in the making and had the legacy of twenty-one films behind it to give it the epic build-up it deserved. Coupled with Alan Silvesteri’s iconic Avengers theme music and beginning with a wonderful callback from Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, the scene has anchored itself as one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
VFX supervisor Max Deleeuw mentioned how he suggested the use of portals in the scene as the initial shot that the team had planned was not working out. He mentioned that he got the idea from a pre-viz video that he had worked on along with editor Jeff Ford. He said to ComicBook.com,
“We just said, ‘We have to go with the portals and just you picking who comes out when.’ It was just something that for I think originally it was like we knew who survived and when they were coming back, but we needed to slow it down and give the audience a chance to welcome their heroes back.”
And that was precisely why the scene worked wonders. The entire film has the aura of the tragedy of the Snap. With five years gone by in the film’s timeline, the opening scenes of the film show the grief that the survivors went through, with the Avengers trying to figure out a way to reverse the damages. Fans celebrated the anniversary of the film on social media.
And the rest remains history till date
— Moviebum (@MCUdevotee) April 26, 2024
everyone cheered when cap lifted Mjolnir, i cheered when he finally said Avengers assemble 💯
— Lily Kitsune 18+ 🏳️⚧️ (@lilyxkitsune) April 26, 2024
how quickly does time fly 😭. anyways, im gona watch this again today lol
— HungryGames2000 (@HungryGames2000) April 26, 2024
We won Mr Stark… 😭😭😭
— Satyam Patel | 𝕏… (@SatyamInsights) April 26, 2024
the last good movie marvel released
— kat (@waifukatt) April 26, 2024
While the MCU deals with its quality dropping and tries to find the right creative direction, many fans still believe that the franchise hit its peak with Avengers: Endgame.
