Avengers: Endgame Climactic Portal Scene Almost Had A Different Theme

The iconic portals scene in Avengers: Endgame almost had a different theme. Joe and Anthony Russo's 2019 culminating film featured a lot of memorable moments, but arguably its most emotional and thrilling one was the return of all the heroes who disappeared from the snap for the final showdown against Thanos.

Coming from the tragic ending of Avengers: Infinity War, the surviving heroes were forced to live through their failure to stop the Mad Titan's decimation for five years in Endgame. Each one coped differently as most of the team went their separate ways to deal with their respective grief. However, when Ant-Man re-emerged and the idea for the time heist came up, everyone eventually banded back together in the hopes of bringing back those who perished during the snap including some of their friends and allies. It took some risks and the sacrifice from Black Widow for the reverse snap to happen, but before the Avengers could even process that they've succeeded in their endeavor, Thanos from 2014 ambushed them setting up the biggest action set piece in MCU history.

It took a little while for the returning heroes to join the battle, but when they did, it quickly became clear that it's the inflection point of Endgame. The whole sequence was both poignant and exciting, especially upon seeing heroes who were tragically snuffed out of existence in Infinity War. Further making the moment better was Silvestri's score, but apparently, they had a different theme for the portals scene — with french horns and choir singing as the composer told The Empire Film Podcast.

“We had all kinds of versions that I had prepared for the orchestra, we had all the French horns playing, you know, the 'Portals' [mimics French horns] and then we had choirs singing it, and all this, and then it's like 'Wait a second, there's this other version, it's a solo trumpet. Here's that solo trumpet thing again,' right? And it's like completely the opposite direction, we have this amazing reveal from the mist of hope and the Wakandans coming to save the day, and it's a solo trumpet.”

“You look at the portals as a construct, it just builds and builds, and the keys changing, and the orchestration is building and we kinda, up to that moment, where Cap says 'Avengers' and then, of course, we're not going near the next line, he gets that all on his own.”

Fortunately, Silvestri decided against the aforementioned idea. It would be jarring to start off the scene with already fairly complex music since there's a clear progression on the theme as the sequence reaches the "Avengers Assemble" moment. It could've also distracted from what's happening on the screen as the music might be overwhelming. The one trumpet coupled with the slow steady single bass drum was enough to improve the sequence; it heightened viewers' emotions and set up the eventual lead-up to the Avengers theme.

Silvestri did a great job with the Avengers: Endgame score. It featured a lot of variation depending on the scenes, but also included a lot of repeating themes differently arranged which makes for overall cohesive music for the movie. A case in point was the Avengers theme which was used in a lot of varied ways throughout the blockbuster. The MCU isn't known for its film scores, but hopefully, the 2019 film serves as a goal and changes that.

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Source: The Empire Film Podcast