THOUSANDS ASSEMBLE TO SEE MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR STARS
“Avengers, assemble!” roared 7,000 fans, at Avengers: Infinity Wars director Joe Russo’s instruction. Those words would soon unlock the location of the final Infinity Stone.
On 16 April, the crowds began descending on Marina Bay Sands from 3.30am for wristband registration – the key to the Avengers fan event co-produced by Disney and Marina Bay Sands. Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr Strange) and Karen Gillan (Nebula) would walk the purple carpet that evening, along with Russo and executive producer Trinh Tran.
In the lead-up to the stars’ highly anticipated arrival, hosts Nikki Muller and Bobby Tonelli led the 4,000-strong crowd in the main Event Plaza through the Marvel Cinematic Universe with trivia questions and prizes, including tickets to the upcoming Marvel Studios exhibition at ArtScience Museum. Child cancer survivors from the Make-A-Wish Singapore Foundation also had the honour of walking the purple carpet. The charity is supported by Disney and Marina Bay Sands' Corporate Social Responsiblity programme, Sands for Singapore.
For the 3,000 other fans awaiting the live stream of the event in the Sands Expo Hall, a kicker would soon be revealed: they’d be the first to meet the stars in the flesh.
Russo and Tran contemplate a standalone feature film starring Iron Man and Dr Strange
Russo and Tran contemplate a standalone feature film starring Iron Man and Dr Strange
Cumberbatch discusses one of the best finger tutters he worked with for Marvel's Dr Strange
Cumberbatch discusses one of the best finger tutters he worked with for Marvel's Dr Strange
But a question remained on everyone’s lips: How will Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War end? Not one member of the cast knows, as has been a well-known fact that Russo again emphasised at the fan event. He did hint, though, that the final Infinity Stone – the orange Soul Stone Stone that Thanos is in search of – sits within Marina Bay Sands.
“Avengers, assemble!” the crowd roared in unison, at Russo's count. And with that, a 12-metre-high glass prism – the heart of Marina Bay Sands’ light and water show, Spectra – lit up in yellow, as a series of pyrotechnics and laser projections washed the integrated resort in colours representing all six Infinity Stones.
It was a first for Marina Bay Sands: integrating existing technologies into a colourful, live show that would leave its mark and redefine red carpets globally. And no better an encapsulation of Marvel, with its knack for pulling out all the punches in its cinematic universe and real life.
Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War opens in Singapore cinemas on 25 April.
Want more? The Marvel Studios: Ten Years of Heroes exhibition opens at ArtScience Museum on 9 June. More details here.
