Opening in theaters on September 25th is the re-release of 'Avengers: Endgame' which is being renamed 'Avengers: Endgame Encore'.
The new release will feature four additional minutes which results in an extended scene, two end credit scenes that did not appear in the original, and a re-imagining of the original's final sound.
'Avengers: Endgame Encore' will set the stage for December's release of 'Avengers: Doomsday', and even director Joe Russo has described the re-release as a 'critical companion story" and that it would create "a bridge from 'Endgame' to 'Doomsday' in a very unique way."
Now that 'Encore' is in theaters, we know what the four new scenes are, so let's break them down and see how they will lead to 'Doomsday'.
Related Article: Who Will Be on Sam Wilson's Avengers Team in 'Avengers: Doomsday'?
Loki Visits Steve and Peggy
The first new scene comes at the end of the movie when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) returns the Infinity Stones and decides to visit Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) for their long promised dance. The scene plays out the same way, but instead of cutting, continues and reveals a knock at the door.
Steve hides behind the corner while Peggy opens the door and asks the visitor, "Can I help you?" The visitor is revealed to be TVA era Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who responds, "No, but I can help you. Both of you." Steve then comes around the corner and approaches Loki before the scene cuts to black.
This additional scene fulfills a lot of online theories as many fans thought that Loki, in his new role as the God of Stories, would recruit Steve to stop Doctor Doom. We don't know yet if this scene will actually appear in 'Avengers: Doomsday', but it certainly confirms that the Disney+ 'Loki' series is required watching before the new film has theaters in December.
Hulk Meets Doom
A reported mid-credits scene shows Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) now living in isolation inside an underground military facility. While apparently recording a video blog, Banner explains that he had his first Hulk incident in over a decade, presumably referring to his appearance in 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'.
He explains that he has decided to isolate himself to protect the world from another Hulk outbreak, and is working on a new gamma-radiation suppressor. However, suddenly the recoding stops and the lights go out, and Banner hears someone else in the room.
Banner asks, "Who are you?" Then we hear Robert Downey Jr. in his Doctor Doom voice reply, "Dr. Banner, I'm here to collect you." We then see Banner struggling as he transforms into the Hulk, and the floor is illuminated with glowing green symbols, similar to the ones seen on Doom's costume in the 'Doomsday' trailers.
This scene has huge ramifications for 'Doomsday', and again, its unknown if it will appear in the upcoming film or not, but its safe to assume that this indicates that Doom is recruiting his own team, and both Banner and Hulk will play an important role in his plans.
It also confirms that Ruffalo will appear in 'Doomsday' and possibly 'Avengers: Secret Wars'. It's also worth mentioning that Ruffalo is sporting a shaggy grey beard, much like Maestro, an evil alternate version of the Hulk from the comics, possibly indicating things to come.
Trouble at the TVA
Another end credit scene also confirms the importance of the 'Loki' series as it takes place at the TVA. We hear Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) reminding her co-workers about the importance of keeping universes from colliding with each other.
Casey (Eugene Cordero) then tells Morbius (Owen Wilson) that Earth-10005 (the 'Deadpool & Wolverine' universe) and Earth-1127 (an unknown universe) are about to collide, and the two Earths are firing missiles at each other, trying to destroy the other to survive before they collide. O.B. (Ke Huy Quan) then reports further collision alerts before announcing that the multiverse is collapsing.
The monitor in the TVA office also lists realities that have already been destroyed including Earth 400083 (the universe from 2003's 'Hulk'), Earth-8211 (Captain Carter's universe from 'What If...?'), and the universe from 2015's 'Fantastic Four'.
Again, this scene has huge ramifications for 'Doomsday'. My guess is that we will see the TVA again in the upcoming movie, but it may not be this exact scene. However, it does set the stage for the impending multiverse war and begins to explain some of the scenes of original 'X-Men' actors battling our Avengers in the 'Doomsday' trailers.
My guess is that the mutants have been successfully defending their Earth from colliding planets, and when they meet the Avengers, who are trying to help, they mistake them for enemies before joining forces.
With all the other Marvel franchises that were retconned into the MCU with 'Deadpool & Wolverine', like 'Elektra' and 'Blade', for example, its interesting that other franchises such as Ang Lee's 'Hulk' and the Miles Teller 'Fantastic Four' have already been destroyed, and that the Deadpool universe is now in jeopardy.
Is it possible we'll see Deadpool in 'Doomsday'? With this new information added to Ryan Reynolds appearance at the Marvel panel at the year's San Diego Comic-Con, it's likely, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Doom's Sound of Metal
After the final credits in the original 'Endgame', we heard a sound of metal being hit by a hammer. It was a callback to the specific moment when Tony Stark first made his Iron Man mask in the cave in 2008's 'Iron Man', which kicked off the MCU.
That sound remains the same in 'Encore', but with a twist. We now see flashes of Doctor Doom forging his own mask while we hear the hammering.
Apparently, we don't see Doom for very long, but one can assume a longer cut of this scene will appear in the upcoming film. While fan's had considered that the final sound from 'Endgame' could be retconned to connect to Doom, this scene confirms it.
With Oscar winner and former Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. also playing Doctor Doom, one question remains, will there be any other connections between Tony Stark and the new villain?
We'll find out on December 17th when 'Avengers: Doomsday' is released.
List of 'Avengers' Movies:
- 'The Avengers' (2012)
- 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' (2015)
- 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018)
- 'Avengers: Endgame' (2019)
- 'Avengers: Doomsday' (2026)
- 'Avengers: Secret Wars' (2027)
