Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame Encore and discusses reported story connections to Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel Studios has brought Avengers: Endgame back to cinemas in an expanded version that adds four minutes of previously unseen footage, and the new material appears designed to connect the 2019 blockbuster more directly with the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
Titled Avengers: Endgame Encore, the theatrical re-release adds four new sequences involving characters including Loki, Bruce Banner and Doctor Doom. The footage was reportedly filmed during production connected with Doomsday and functions as a bridge between the two Avengers films.
The new scenes also revisit some of the biggest unresolved questions surrounding Marvel’s multiverse storyline.
What Are the Four New Scenes in Endgame Encore?
The additional footage is spread across the movie and its closing credits. The sequences reportedly involve:
- Loki visiting Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter
- The TVA witnessing the multiverse begin to collapse
- Bruce Banner confronting Doctor Doom
- Doctor Doom forging his metal mask
Together, the scenes appear to strengthen the connection between Endgame and Avengers: Doomsday.
Loki Returns to Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter
One of the new sequences takes place around the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, after Steve Rogers has returned the Infinity Stones and chosen to remain in the past with Peggy Carter.
In the original film, Steve ultimately appears as an elderly man and gives his Captain America shield to Sam Wilson.
The new footage reportedly adds a surprising visitor to Steve and Peggy’s life: Loki.
Tom Hiddleston’s character appears in his Time Variance Authority uniform, connecting the scene to the events of the Loki television series.
The sequence raises an important multiverse question. Steve’s decision to travel into the past and remain there has long prompted debate among Marvel fans about how his actions affected the timeline.
The new scene appears to revisit that issue by bringing Loki, now connected to the TVA and the broader multiverse, directly into Steve and Peggy’s story.
Marvel has not, based on the reported footage, provided a complete explanation of why Loki arrives or exactly what he tells the couple.
The TVA Watches the Multiverse Collapse
Another new sequence reportedly returns viewers to the Time Variance Authority.
Loki’s former TVA colleagues Mobius, Casey, Ouroboros and Miss Minutes are shown dealing with a potentially catastrophic multiversal event.
The sequence centers on two Earths approaching an incursion, a term Marvel has used for a collision between realities.
The situation then escalates as additional universes begin colliding.
The result is a much larger threat: the multiverse itself appears to be heading toward collapse.
That development could be particularly important for Avengers: Doomsday, which is expected to bring characters and worlds from different corners of Marvel’s cinematic history together.
Could the X-Men Be Connected to the Incursion?
The sequence naturally raises questions about the arrival of characters from the former Fox X-Men universe.
Marvel has already previewed characters associated with that universe, including Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto and Cyclops, while other returning characters have also been reported or shown in promotional material.
Whether the worlds involved in the TVA sequence are specifically the X-Men universe and the primary MCU reality has not been established by the scene itself.
That distinction is important because the incursion sequence appears to establish the multiversal crisis without necessarily explaining every universe involved.
Bruce Banner Faces Doctor Doom
The third new sequence appears during the credits and brings Bruce Banner back into the story.
According to the reported footage, the scene occurs after the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, in which Banner has experienced another transformation into the Hulk.
Bruce is subsequently held in a secure medical facility, where he is working on a way to prevent himself from losing control of the transformation.
His work is interrupted when Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., arrives at the facility.
Banner responds by transforming into the Hulk and confronting Doom.
The scene ends before audiences see the outcome of the encounter.
That leaves several questions open ahead of Avengers: Doomsday: whether Banner survives the confrontation, whether Hulk becomes involved in the larger conflict and what Doctor Doom wants from him.
At this stage, those possibilities remain unanswered rather than confirmed developments.
Doctor Doom Gets an Iron Man-Era Callback
The fourth sequence comes at the very end of the credits and revisits a sound that longtime Marvel fans will recognize.
The original Avengers: Endgame concluded with a metallic hammering sound. When the film first opened in 2019, fans recognized the audio as a callback to Tony Stark constructing his first Iron Man armor.
The Endgame Encore version reportedly changes the context of that sound.
Instead of Tony Stark, viewers see Doctor Doom working on his metal mask.
The choice is especially significant because Robert Downey Jr. plays Doctor Doom after portraying Tony Stark/Iron Man throughout the Infinity Saga.
The scene does not establish that Doom and Stark are the same character. Instead, the visual and audio parallel creates an intentional connection between the two characters, while leaving the significance of that connection open to interpretation.
How Endgame Encore Connects to Avengers: Doomsday
Marvel has been building anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday through a series of promotional teases and returning characters from different Marvel properties.
The new Endgame Encore footage continues that strategy.
The Loki sequence connects Steve Rogers’ time travel to the wider multiverse. The TVA sequence establishes the scale of the multiversal threat. Bruce Banner’s confrontation introduces Doctor Doom directly into another major MCU character’s storyline, while the final Doom sequence creates a visual callback to Iron Man.
Taken together, the four additions make the re-release function as more than a simple theatrical return for Endgame. They provide additional connective material ahead of the next Avengers event.
What We Know About Avengers: Doomsday
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 18.
The film is expected to bring together characters from multiple Marvel franchises and universes, continuing the multiverse storyline that has developed across recent MCU projects.
The promotional campaign has already highlighted several returning characters and alternate-universe connections.
Among the most closely watched developments is the return of Robert Downey Jr., this time as Doctor Doom rather than Tony Stark.
The distinction between Downey’s former MCU role and his new character is likely to remain a major point of discussion as Marvel reveals more footage.
Endgame’s Legacy Meets Marvel’s Next Multiverse Chapter
Avengers: Endgame originally served as the conclusion to the Infinity Saga and the culmination of more than a decade of interconnected Marvel storytelling.
Endgame Encore now uses selected moments from that film to establish connections with the next phase of the franchise.
Loki’s appearance, the TVA’s multiverse crisis, Hulk’s encounter with Doom and the Iron Man-inspired Doom sequence each point toward different aspects of the upcoming story.
However, several questions remain unanswered, including the precise relationship between the collapsing universes, the role of Bruce Banner and Hulk, and how the returning characters from different Marvel realities will interact.
Those answers are expected to remain part of Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday rollout.
Release date: Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for December 18.