It was approaching hour 25 in the El Capitan theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Twenty-five hours since the audience had filed into the darkened auditorium for a butt-numbing endurance test: watch 12 Avenger films back-to-back, climaxing in Avengers: Infinity War.
Since they had loaded up on popcorn and taken their seats, Wednesday had become Thursday. Earth had completed a full rotation. The sun was preparing another slide into the Pacific ocean. And there was still six hours to go.
“Stretchy pants. Blankets. A constant stream of sugar. Cheetos. You got to come prepared,” said Benjamin Taylor, 30, ducking out with three friends to the sunlit boulevard for a pizza break.
“I ate 13 packs of Fruit Gushers and that was just during Guardians of the Galaxy,” said Theo Brown, 29. “At night you just have to push through, get some coffee. We’re coasting now, man. It’s good.”
Their friend Kevin Carrington, 38, forgot the stretch pants – a rookie mistake – but had no complaints. He was in geek heaven. “This is the life. And this is the stuff I got laughed at for as a kid. But now people are lining up for it. The culture caught up with us nerds.”
El Capitan, a venerable Los Angeles cinema on the Walk of Fame, was one of seven cinemas in North America hosting a Marvel marathon in advance of Thursday night’s launch of Avengers: Infinity War, the culmination of 18 superhero films that began with Iron Man in 2008.
El Capitan’s approximately 750 tickets sold out within seven minutes, said Lisa Cabello, a spokeswoman for Disney, which owns Marvel. The $100 price included a poster and four meals.
“I had three Chick-fil-A cookies,” said one young man in the lobby, holding his stomach and shaking his head. “Don’t eat three Chick-fil-A cookies.”
By 2pm Thursday the audience had sat through Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and halfway through Spiderman: Homecoming. It would be followed by Black Panther, then on to Infinity.
The action on screen – a villain played by Michael Keaton was hurling Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, into the sky – cast a glow over mostly rapt faces. A few seemed asleep. When the noisy on-screen mayhem paused the silence betrayed a few soft snores.
“I put a sweatshirt around my neck so if I fall asleep, I’m good,” said Ryan Storms, 32, who has attended previous marathons.
“It’s like camping. We brought pillows and face masks,” said Brooke Bovee, 27, a physics student, during a food dash to the boulevard with three friends. “We put on the masks during certain movies because we want to be fresh for Infinity.”
After 25 hours of junk the four friends craved lettuce, said Bovee, “but we’re getting ice cream”.
The atmosphere inside was infectious – a communion of self-described nerds, high on caffeine and sugar, watching movies they adore. Cheers punctuated certain scenes.
Taylor, an indie film producer, nodded off during Guardians of the Galaxy yet recited the lines in his sleep, said his friends. Taylor shrugged. He has seen each film multiple times. “It’s like a TV series. They’re connected in a very episodic way.”
Some Marvel actors, including Holland and Josh Brolin, electrified the audience by appearing on stage and signing autographs between films. Michael Rooker, who plays Yondu Udonta in Guardians of the Galaxy, earned extra appreciation for turning up at 3am.
One catch, said Taylor, was hygiene. It wasn’t easy staying fragrant in a confined space for 30-plus hours. “I did not bring a date.”
