Concert Review: MARVEL STUDIOS' INFINITY SAGA CONCERT EXPERIENCE
On a surprisingly windy summer day in Toronto, Marvel fans came together to experience the Infinity Saga like never before. The Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience combined select scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe with live orchestral music from the franchise to produce an immersive experience unlike a regular movie-going one.
The concert was brought to the city by Kashamara Productions, a Canadian-based special events company. The concert music was conducted by renowned Japanese-American conductor Sarah Hicks, and brought to life by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. About the Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience Photo courtesy Monita Roy Mohan
The Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience debuted in 2024 and has since slowly been doing the rounds of North America. There were supposed to be two Toronto concerts, but the Friday show was cancelled. The Saturday show, which is the one I attended, therefore, had a packed audience, which was spectacular because the thunderous clapping and hooting reverberated across the expansive Meridian Hall.
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The concert kicked off with Hicks saying 'Avengers Assemble' to thunderous applause. After a short trailer of the MCU, the show began with the Marvel fanfare. But of course. The concert charted the journeys of key characters from the Infinity Saga, with a focus on the big three—Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth). We got to see a few full scenes of their most heroic moments, all with the live orchestra's music playing alongside.
Other hero tributes included nods to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), surprisingly Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), as well as Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and, of course, an emotionally heavy dose of T'Challa/Black Panther, played by the late Chadwick Boseman. There were loud cheers for Thor and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), but also, randomly, Thanos (Josh Brolin).
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The pre-intermission section of the Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience was joyful and bright. The inclusion of humorous fight scenes and banter from The Avengers added to the ebullience.
Post-intermission was much darker, but it was absolute perfection—the second part almost exclusively covered Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame . It was intense and ever-so emotional. The Music of Marvel Photo courtesy Monita Roy Mohan
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has plenty of stunning themes and musical interludes, but the franchise doesn't always get the credit it deserves for its music. Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience spotlights the more memorable musical moments of the franchise. I couldn't stop swaying and bobbing to many of my favorite tunes, like the theme from Thor , and the Oscar-winning music of Black Panther .
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A huge cheer went up for the Thor: Ragnarok theme. But the cheers and hoots for The Avengers theme, which played over the scene of the six original Avengers coming together, were deafening. The audience drowned the music out with our applause.
While the music was glorious, there were a few missteps. I loved the inclusion of 'The Star-Spangled Man,' but I could not hear the lyrics. Not sure why the voices were completely drowned out by the music.
The scene introducing Thor, 'Wakanda,' and Killmonger's theme seemed muted, as if the key percussions were missing. But the music picked up after that.
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The Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience emphasized the journey of some of the main characters. So, despite one audience member loudly yelling for Bucky (Sebastian Stan), Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier was hardly in the concert. Interestingly, despite the Snap scene being played out almost in full, Bucky's part was cut out. Strange choice.
There was far too little of the Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) tribute. Only her theme tune and a short montage were played. But she got her due later in the concert. The loud hollers for Captain Marvel's epic entrance in Endgame made my heart sing. For all the hate that the ladies of Marvel, especially Brie Larson as Carol, get from the online community, an experience like Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience is a nice reminder that there are actual fans out there who don't revel in prejudice.
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I found the choices of Steve's scenes spectacular—they truly did showcase his heroism. But they also inadvertently showed off how brave and strategic Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) was.
My favorite part of the concert was the obvious love for Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). One woman screamed throughout the scene when Wanda staved off Thanos' attack while destroying the Mind Stone, and the love of her life, Vision (Paul Bettany). It was a bit much, but we felt the love. Another audience member stood up and clapped while Wanda fought Thanos in Endgame .
The concert also gave us the funeral and farewell for Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) that the all-male writing-directing team of Avengers: Endgame didn't bother to give her. Not only that, but the Black Widow tribute was absolutely stellar. As Natasha Romanoff fell to her death in Vormir, the concert cut to a collection of scenes of Black Widow throughout the MCU, including the dream sequences of the Red Room and numerous touching moments between Natasha and her sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). The tears flowed freely. Literally, the best part of the show.
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The Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience ended the way Avengers: Endgame did, concluding decades of nostalgia and investment in these characters with Alan Silvestri's unforgettable musical refrain. Yes, there were more tears.
The Concert Experience isn't just a way to re-tread the journeys of the Avengers, it also recontextualizes the meaning they have to us — the audience and fans — and to the new heroes who've joined the MCU since the Infinity Saga ended.
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We've all watched Marvel films in theatres far and wide, but the best part of the concert was that it gave us fans the ability to do the things that are not possible in the movie hall — we screamed, we clapped, we hooted. We re-lived the magic of Marvel, one musical theme at a time.
Who Is Bob Reynolds, the Newest Hero Introduced in THUNDERBOLTS*? Monita has been championing diversity, inclusivity, and representation in entertainment media through her work for over a decade. She is a contributor at Bam Smack Pow, and her bylines have appeared on 3-time Eisner Award-winning publication Women Write About Comics, Geek Girl Authority, HuffPost, Reactormag.com (formerly tor.com), Soundsphere/Screensphere, FanSided's Show Snob, and Vocal. She was also a TV/Movies features writer at Collider.com. Alongside her twin, Monita co-hosts the pop culture podcast Stereo Geeks.
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