When a movie becomes the highest-grossing film of all time, you are going to have a bunch of memorable moments in the story that stick with audiences over a long time. Avengers: Endgame has a lot of such moments, but arguably the one that gets the most cheers is when Captain America lifts Thor’s enchanted hammer Mjolnir to battle Thanos. In a recent interview, Joe Russo, who co-directed the film with his brother Anthony, called it his compared the scene to watching boxing icon Rocky Balboa get up off the mat for the twelfth round of a fight.
“Probably Cap with the hammer [is our favorite scene from the film], because that’s the full circle for us. We worked with that character for a long time, and it was a great payoff for him as a character. The way Evans played that character has such integrity. It’s one of the great characters in movie history because of his performance that you just want to see him win, you know? You just want to root for this guy. And that moment turned the tide in that fight, and you know, it’s like Rocky getting up off the mat in round 12. It just inspires you.”
The Russos are far from the first to praise Cap’s moment with Mjolnir. In fact, that scene in Endgame was chosen to be a part of Empire’s “The Greatest Cinema Moments Ever”. When Evans was asked to weigh in on the scene’s selection for the list, the actor admitted even he gets choked up watching the audiences’ reaction to the whole sequence.
“The first time I saw Endgame was at the premiere. Normally I see the films I work on well in advance, and I rarely sit through premieres (too much anxiety). But being the last installment of a ten-year journey, I wanted to experience this final film the same way the audience would. When Cap lifts Mj&ölnir, our theater went absolutely berserk. Even though I knew the moment was coming, I still got emotional. In the following weeks, friends and family would send me clips from theaters around the world losing their collective shit at this moment. Seeing those reactions, and knowing that I was lucky enough to be a part of those memories for those people, made me feel a sense of pride and gratitude that I’ll never be able to properly express. In those moments I’m not an actor, or even an adult; I’m a little kid again completely captivated by the power and magic that movies can wield. Damn it… I’m getting choked up.”
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos.