This past weekend was a monumental weekend for many De Soto High School students and staff, especially for those who are Marvel fans. Not only was Prom this weekend, but the biggest movie event of this year was released. Avengers: Endgame, the long awaited sequel to Avengers: Infinity War and the conclusion to the past 22 Marvel films, came out in theaters on April 26.

Avengers: Endgame follows the aftermath of Thanos’ snap, which wiped out half the population of the universe, and primarily focuses on the remaining Avengers’ response.

Marvel fans have been waiting almost a year for this movie event since the release of its predecessor last May.

“The second Avengers: Infinity War was done [in last May]. I was so ready to see the next movie,” said junior Lauren Mallicoat, who saw Endgame after Prom.

Others have waited much longer for this conclusion to phase three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“The first Marvel movie I saw was in 2008, so 11 years [of waiting],” assistant band director Philip Kaul said.

Viewing this movie and being a part of such a major event in Marvel history has impacted many fans.

“As a Marvel fan, and just somebody in my generation who grew up with these movies, and finally seeing the conclusion has been really cool,” Mallicoat said.

This movie premiere provoked various emotions from fans, particularly in the form of tears.

“At the end, I was sobbing. I was crying about some parts, but I was also happy about other parts,”said junior Morgan Laney who also spent time after Prom watching Endgame.

While the end credits rolled, fans experienced the end of an era.

“There was definitely the feeling of finality at the end of it where you don’t really know what’s going to be next. It’s like a blank slate again,” Kaul said.

The whole atmosphere of the theater was energetic and engaged the whole audience.

“I’ve never seen a movie theater where the audience gets so involved with the movie. Everybody was on the edge of their seats,”  Mallicoat said. “Everybody was involved, screaming during the climax and getting really into the movie.”

Students went into the movie with high expectations and were left feeling satisfied. According to Laney, Endgame was what she expected and so much more.

The movie could also be described as  a tribute to Marvel fans.

“The whole movie was really kind of a fan service. It was more of an event of ‘thanks for sticking with us for the last 10 years. We [Marvel] are going to give you [Marvel fans] lots of moments that you like with lots of different characters and we are going to try and end it in a way that feels satisfying,’” Kaul said.

Overall, students were happy with the ending of the movie.

“I really enjoyed how they [Marvel] ended out every character, and it made me happy in some ways that they went about it. I’m very satisfied,” Laney added. “It was worth staying up until 3:30 in the morning.”