While it’s only been about six months since Avengers: Endgame was unleashed upon the world, it is safe to say that film gave us perhaps the most iconic moment in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. The moment when Captain America proves himself worthy, and is able to summon Thor’s hammer Mjolnir to lay down a lightning-powered beatdown on Thanos. Other badass moments are sure to come in the MCU, but they will have a hard time topping this one.
Now, an MCU fan by the name of John Grosjean has gone and made this epic scene that much more iconic, by giving it the extra touch of magic it needed. And when we say “the touch,” we mean that quite literally. Grosjean has removed Alan Silvestri’s score for the big confrontation between Cap and Thanos, and replaced it with the song “The Touch” by Stan Bush, made famous by the original animated Transformers movie.
The use of the song during that scene wound up being so perfect, that Chris Evans himself retweeted the video, saying “I didn’t realize that this is all I ever wanted.” Well, we didn’t know we needed it either until now, and now we can’t get enough of it!
I didn’t realize that this is all I ever wanted. https://t.co/VgE7HMiUdw
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) October 7, 2019
If you’re not familiar with this rockin’ power ballad, it became legendary thanks to not one, but two iconic movies. The first time moviegoers heard this song was of course in the Transformers movie back in 1986. It was actually originally meant for the Sylvester Stallone movie Cobra, and was actually inspired by a line from another ’80s action movie, Iron Eagle. This right there might make it the most testosterone fueled song ever recorded.
Despite its origins being those of R-rated action flicks, it somehow wound up in an animated kid’s movie instead. It was used again on the animated Transformers television series, when Optimus Prime was brought back to life after having been killed off in the movie.
But the second movie that made “The Touch” even more iconic was Paul Thomas Anderson’s breakthrough film Boogie Nights in 1997. In one scene set in an ’80s recording studio, porn actor turned wannabe rock star Dirk Diggler records his own version of the song. Mark Wahlberg’s deliberately terrible rendition of the song introduced it to a whole new generation of fans, and it was even included as a hidden track on the original Boogie Nights soundtrack album.
Since its revival in Boogie Nights, the song has been included in a ton of different pop culture avenues. Both the television series Chuck and The Goldbergs have used it, and it was included in last year’s Transformers soft reboot Bumblebee, bringing things full circle. It’s also been a downloadable song in both Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Stan Bush has re-recorded the song himself more than once, and released different versions. But to us, you just can’t beat the original.
Image: Marvel Studios
