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When “Avengers: Endgame” hit theaters in 2019, it was celebrated as a masterful finale for the first saga of the MCU. Now, “Avengers: Endgame Encore” is hitting theaters, including some new footage to set up the next Marvel event, “Avengers: Doomsday.”
“Endgame Encore” features four all-new, all-different scenes to help tie the last chapter of the MCU into the future. While some of these scenes played in standard theater showings, others were only available on premium formats like IMAX and the recently-created “Infinity Vision.”
So what happens in these new scenes, and how do they set up what’s to come? Read on to find out.
Spoiler warning: We’re going to be talking about the new footage, so don’t read on if you’re planning on seeing “Endgame” this weekend. We’re also going to be revealing what happens in “Endgame,” in case you’ve somehow made it seven years without finding out.
Scene 1: The Star-Spangled Man Needs a Plan
The first new scene in “Endgame Encore” comes before the credits even roll. Most of “Avengers: Endgame” plays out how audiences remember it, with the film building to an emotional dance between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) after Steve decided to leave superheroing behind once he’d dropped off the time-displaced Infinity Stones.
But before this scene can conclude, someone knocks at the door of Peggy’s home (left slightly ajar to imply that the two got to dancing as soon as Steve returned home). As Steve hides around the corner (paranoid, much?), Peggy answers the door to find Loki (Tom Hiddleston), asking if she can help him.
“No,” Loki responds. “But I can help you. Both of you,” he says as Steve steps into view.
When last we left Loki, he sacrificed his life in his self-titled Disney+ show to become the God of Stories, protecting the multiverse at the end of time. Whether this scene takes place before or after that decision remains to be seen.
In the first official trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday,” Loki can be seen giving somebody his card from the TVA, or Time Variance Authority (more on that later). It now seems likely that he gave that card to Steve, who only met Loki when he was trying to take over the world in “The Avengers” and was probably told by Thor (Chris Hemsworth) that their timeline’s Loki died at the hands of Thanos.
If I had to guess, Loki is probably at Peggy’s house to warn Steve about the TVA pruning destinies that are off the path of the Sacred Timeline. Loki must have helped him avoid that fate, as other “Doomsday” teasers show Steve with a kid and a beard, meaning that he lived for some time out of the TVA’s way (perhaps in another dimension?).
Whatever Loki’s solution ended up being clearly didn’t go well, as the Anthony Russo recently said that this moment is “where ‘Doomsday’ is born.”
So much for a happy ending.
Scene 2: The Lonely Man
After the credits begin, audiences are treated to a scene that shows Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in some sort of solitary confinement experimenting with Gamma radiation after the events of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Bruce seems to figure out some way to keep the Hulk under control after his recent Jean Grey-caused outburst, as he says directly to the camera.
The camera then goes on the fritz and Bruce is approached by an off-screen figure: Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. Doom says that he has “come to collect” Dr. Banner as we see green magic and hear the Hulk’s scream. Soon, all that is visible in the cell is one of Doom’s magic sigils.
Whether Doom abducted the Hulk to fight on his team or simply absorbed the hero’s power is unclear. Jonathan Hickman’s “Avengers” comic book run that leads up to “Time Runs Out” (which “Doomsday” is based on) and “Secret Wars” (which the next “Avengers” film is based on) does involve an evil Hulk and morality-free Bruce from another dimension. Perhaps the Russo Brothers and their writing squad are taking elements of that story to have a Hulk vs. Avengers fight.
Another possibility is that Doom is siphoning powers from key MCU players to amass enough energy to stop the multiversal collapse on his own terms. In the comics, he achieves this by absorbing the powers of the Beyonders, a group of hyper-advanced beings that have yet to be introduced in the MCU.
Either way, Bruce can’t seem to catch a break. Don’t expect any more dabbing in the next “Avengers” movie.
Scene 3: Hey Y’all
The final mid-credits scene brings audiences to the TVA, reintroducing fan-favorite characters like Mobius (Owen Wilson), OB (Ke Huy Quan) and Casey (Eugene Cordero), as well as Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong). A sign is shown dubbing Loki the TVA’s “Employee of all time.” If only it were under better circumstances.
The scene involves the TVA witnessing two Earths start to collide: Earth-10005 (the universe of the Fox “X-Men” films) and Earth-1127 (an unknown universe). The two then begin firing missiles at one another when more alerts start going off.
As the TVA watches in horror, they begin to witness several other universes colliding with each other before being destroyed. Several unknown Earths are terminated, with the total number of dead universes climbing quickly into the thousands. OB then declares that “the multiverse is collapsing.”
In the Hickman-penned comics, the multiversal collapse involves many scenes just like this, where two universes begin to collide with each other in “incursion” events (though this multiversal collapse occurred much more slowly than the MCU’s seems to). When an incursion begins, the two universes have mere hours to make a choice: Let the two Earths collide and both universes die, or destroy one Earth and let both universes live.
It seems that the X-Men and some other world in the multiverse have gotten used to this choice.
Scene 4: Doctor Doom Built This in a Cave! With a Box of Scraps!
“Endgame Encore’s” post-credits scene is the shortest bit of new footage. In it, audiences can hear the iconic clanging of Tony Stark forging the Mark I mask from “Iron Man.” A series of images flash on the screen to the beat, with the last one being Doctor Doom in his mask featured in the “Doomsday” trailers.
This could just be a cute nod, but it certainly sets up the idea that Tony Stark and Doctor Doom have parallel stories in “Doomsday,” with the RDJ casting being more than just a coincidence. Is Doom a Stark variant? Is he just borrowing Stark’s face? Did he build his mask in a cave with a box of scraps? All will be answered in “Doomsday.”
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