BY TYLER COLLINS
How long can an audience sit in a movie theatre? For some Marvel fans, they could spend days watching their favourite superhero films.
That’s exactly what some audiences are going to do a few weeks from now.
Cineplex cinemas will be hosting Marvel Studio’s Avengers: Infinity War Marathon in Toronto on April 25 and 26. The themed movie marathon will feature 12 movies from Marvel Studios, finishing with Canada’s first show of the new Avengers: Infinity War.
The event will take place in auditorium 13 of the Scotiabank Theatre in downtown Toronto. According to Cineplex, the “premium event will include marathon only collectibles, exclusive content, and a special concession offer.”
Beginning at 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, the marathon will continue overnight and finish the next day. The unofficial end time is 8:37 p.m. on Thursday, April 26.
With a runtime of 31 hours and 37 minutes, this will be the longest movie marathon in Cineplex history. According to Caitlin O’Donovan, Cineplex’s Vice-President of Product, it’s the longest event the theatre chain has hosted since a similar event in 2015.
“This is the longest event since The Ultimate Marvel Marathon before Avengers: Age of Ultron,” says O’Donovan. “That [marathon] was 27 hours long for the 11 movies that were released so far.”
This year’s event will feature 12 titles in all featuring different series and characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that began with 2008’s Iron Man.
The full schedule of this month’s marathon includes:
Wednesday, April 25
1:30 p.m. Iron Man
4:00 p.m. The Incredible Hulk
6:15 p.m. Thor
9:00 p.m. Captain America: The First Avenger
11:30 p.m. Marvel’s The Avengers
Thursday, April 26
2:15 a.m. Guardians of the Galaxy
4:30 a.m. Avengers: Age of Ultron
7:15 a.m. Captain America: Civil War
10:00 a.m. Doctor Strange
12:45 p.m. Spider-Man: Homecoming
3:15 p.m. Black Panther
6:00 p.m. Avengers: Infinity War
Similar events were first announced for other theatres in the United States last month. They are being hosted at two separate AMC theatres locations: the AMC Empire 25 in New York City and the AMC Disney Springs 24 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The latter event is a co-promotion with the Walt Disney World resort, which is home to the Lake Buena Vista cinema. That location will screen the marathon in its largest auditorium, with two floors and over 700 seats.
Both marathons in New York and Florida have already sold out. But there are still tickets available for the event in Toronto, though Cineplex anticipates it will sell out before April 25. Local fans are eager for the marathon’s only Canadian location.
Chris Hemming is one of those Marvel superfans. “It’s amazing to see what Marvel Studios has made, and it’s so exciting seeing how the Avengers series is going to end,” says Hemming. “These are some of my favourite movies.”
The only slight disappointment, he admits, “is leaving Captain America: The Winter Soldier off the list. It’s such an important part of the Avengers storyline. It’s weird it isn’t one of the movies we’re going to see.”
Other films omitted from the lineup include 2010’s Iron Man 2, 2013’s Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, 2015’s Ant-Man, and two 2017 films, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released in 2014.
Tickets to the marathon in Toronto costs $59.99 each – substantially less than the $75.00 US price for the same event in New York and Florida. According to exchange rates as of this publication, that equals $95.98 CAD. That’s an increase of 60 per cent for the same event.
Though less extreme, the difference in price is common for all movie tickets in the two countries. The average single movie ticket in the United States is $9.18 US, or $11.75 CAD. The average single ticket in Canada is $9.62 CAD, about 18 per cent less.
While seating is reserved for the events in New York and Florida, all tickets to the marathon in Toronto are general admission only. The Scotiabank Theatre will open at 11 a.m. on April 25 for those attending the marathon.
Tickets can be purchased for the event from Cineplex’s website or in-person at the Scotiabank Theatre box office. The theatre is located at 259 Richmond Street in Toronto.
Screenings for Avengers: Infinity War begin at 7 p.m. local time across Canada and the United States on Thursday, April 26. The movie officially opens on Friday, April 27.
