If you spend a large amount of your time in movie theaters (hi!) then it feels like it's been a lot more that six weeks since we were all there. It feels like it's been a year. Of course, the truth is, that a year ago we were all in theaters watching Avengers: Endgame. A few days ago, directors Joe and Anthony Russo were part of a social media viewing party of the film, and along with their comments about the production of the film, they shared a video they recorded of an opening night audience reacting to the film, but it looks like they recorded a bit more than that.
The Russos first showed us the "Portals" sequence, and the way the audience reacted to the return of all their favorite Marvel heroes. Now, we see the same audience reacting to the end of the battle, and the sacrifice of Iron Man. Check out the clip below.
First of all, can we all stop for a minute and enjoy the hilarious situation that would have unfolded if theater employees had busted the Russos for recording the movie on their phone on opening night. There's no guarantee they would have been recognized, and it could have really turned into an issue if they'd been caught. You shouldn't pirate movies kids.
The clip itself is interesting. It's a bittersweet moment because, while it shows the defeat of Thanos, it's done by Iron Man sacrificing himself. The audience cheers when they see that Tony has taken the Infinity Stones, but at the end of the clip the celebration stops, as everybody realizes what the moment really means for the man who started the MCU.
The videos do take us back. Everybody reading this probably saw Avengers: Endgame in theaters and quite possibly had a similar experience in the theater with an audience. Many of us were probably among those people cheering as Mjolnir flew into the hands of Captain America or when we heard Sam Wilson say "On your left."
The communal aspect of film is part of the experience of theatrical movie watching and it's something that, when it works, can make any movie better. At this point it's hard to know when, or even if, we'll have that experience again. Movie theaters will likely be one of the last places where things will be back to business as usual. Will we even be able to have this sort of experience with the next Marvel movie?
There has been talk of potentially rereleasing Avengers: Endgame in theaters once life can go back to normal, as a way to draw people back to theaters. It certainly might work. People looking to have an experience like this again might want to try having literally the same experience over again.
