‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Director Explains Why They Used The Avengers Theme So Little In The Movie

The Avengers theme definitely brings with it some feels, and there is a reason why it wasn’t used more in Avengers: Infinity War.

The Infinity War commentary revealed some interesting details about the filmmaking process for the superhero epic. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo as well as screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus took some time to address why there wasn’t as much of the original Avengers theme throughout the movie.

“We should mention Alan Silvestri’s theme here,” Anthony Russo said, “It’s very Pavlovian for many of us in terms of the emotional reaction we get from it.”

Joe Russo agreed, and that kind of why they decided to be sparse with their use of it. “I think it’s without question the most emotional piece of music that exists. It’s used very sparingly in this movie for two very big moments. One here and one with Thor. It’s hinted at in other places but doesn’t get into its full-blown presentation.”

The theme came back into play thanks to Silvestri, who played it on his iPhone and then it was done.

“I think Alan recommended this,” Joe Russo said. “We were sitting in a room with him and he pulled out an iPhone and started playing it from the original Avengers soundtrack just over the cut and everybody in the room went crazy. So we said, “all right, that’s a great idea.” Then we knew we needed a big piece of the score for Thor so, we thought, early on, when we’re conceiving the film it was very important to us, as directors, to identify two or three key moments where that theme could come in. As I said I think it’s the best thing that we have for music in the Marvel Universe just for recognizably and connection to the audience.”

While some probably would have liked to hear the theme more throughout the film, it did manage to have a significant impact when it finally did play, so it seems their plan worked.

Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Peter Dinklage as Eitri, Benedict Wong as Wong, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, with Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, with Josh Brolin as Thanos, and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord.

Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and The Wasp are in theaters now. Other Marvel projects coming soon are Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.