The portals scene in Avengers: Endgame is one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most iconic moments, but it originally played out very differently. In an interview with Empire (via Total Film) to promote his upcoming film The Electric State, Endgame co-director Joe Russo discussed how the famous sequence came together, revealing that there was “some debate” about it during post-production. The filmmaker explained that in the film’s initial cut, “the camera rotated around Steve Rogers and everybody was collected behind him.”
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Viewers will recall that the final version of the sequence sees a plethora of portals open up one-by-one as more heroes join the Avengers in the final battle against Thanos. Russo said he was “fighting that one for months in the edit room” before he and his brother/co-director Anthony Russo decided to film what they needed in reshoots. Endgame co-write Stephen McFeely told Empire he thought “the first cut worked pretty well,” but he understands why the Russos went in the direction they did.
Avengers: Endgame, which served as the grand finale to the MCU’s Infinity Saga, is a film full of crowd-pleasing moments. The portals scene is arguably the movie’s trademark moment, generating an enthusiastic response from audiences; at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, videos depicting crowd reactions to Endgame went viral. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige reflected on the scene’s significance, saying it “was a wonderful reminder of community and of a shared experience.” Feige has also called the scene his favorite Marvel movie moment.
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Following Endgame‘s premiere, the portals sequence immediately became a pop culture touchstone. It has been the subject of several memes, with fan-edits adding everyone from Grogu to Joe Biden to Endgame‘s climactic fight. Others have shown their admiration for the portals scene by recreating it with LEGO minifigures.
Endgame was the culmination of everything Marvel Studios had built up to that point, and the portals scene was the exclamation point that highlighted what an incredible journey audiences had been on since the original Iron Man. Over the course of the Infinity Saga’s first 22 films, moviegoers met and fell in love with a variety of characters — each fan having their own favorite that resonated with them the most. The portals sequence wouldn’t have had the same impact if everyone was standing behind Captain America at once. What made it work so well was the fact that all of these heroes got their moment where they were front and center, simultaneously underscoring the franchise’s immense scope while also giving each individual viewer an opportunity to cheer loudest for their favorite.
The Russo brothers are set to close out another chapter of the MCU’s history, helming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which will release in 2026 and 2027, respectively. It will be interesting to see if they try to pull off a version of the portals sequence for the Multiverse Saga, which would be a risky proposition. Things haven’t gone as smoothly for the MCU in the post-Endgame era, as the franchise has seen box office bombs and critically panned projects. Not only could a portals moment in Secret Wars come across as a pale imitation, it may not elicit the same kind of response, depending on who the filmmakers unite to defeat Doctor Doom. However, with MCU veterans like Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell back in the mix, perhaps the Russos will find a way to give each character their moment before the big fight.
