Marvel fans knew how Avengers: Endgame would play out as an adaptation of the comics. That film's final battle was still a visual treat, especially the Avengers assemble portals scene.

Avengers: Endgame's creative team fought over two versions of the film's portals scene. Joe Russo told Empire (via The Direct) that it took them four months to decide, hinting the unreleased alternate version exists. "There was probably some , I think, of all the Marvel films, ," he recalled. "" That's a drastically different take on the film's iconic moment, which would have left theater audiences dumbfounded.

They chose to extend that sequence, which allowed time for every MCU superhero's grand entrance. That worked out for the best in retrospect, at least in theaters; the alternate scene would have revealed them all at once, leaving audiences overwhelmed. Spotting every MCU character would have been like finding every Ready Player One Easter egg. Fortunately, the Russo brothers had the foresight to film the scene that made it into the final edit. "" Joe Russo added.

Conceding the Russo brothers made the right call, screenplay writer Stephen McFeely confirmed he was in favor of the original concept. "Yeah, I'll go under the bus because I wasn't alone," he confirmed. "I thought the first cut worked pretty well. I thought it was cool. But Joe is right because Joe has ten percent P.T. Barnum, right? " Avengers: Endgame's portal scene is now considered an MCU peak moment.

Marvel VFX supervisor Dan Deleeuw detailed how that scrapped scene was shot. "There was a version of the cut, " he told Comic Book. "It was the day that … We needed to slow it down and give the audience a chance to welcome their heroes back… , and I think it was amazing for all of us that opening weekend, how well the fans responded to it."

The Russo brothers will helm the MCU's next tentpole installments, Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Avengers: Endgame is streaming on Disney+.

Source: Empire (via The Direct)