Four New Scenes Connect Endgame to Doomsday
Marvel has brought Avengers: Endgame back to theaters under the title Avengers: Endgame Encore, a slightly longer cut that adds four minutes of new footage. The four scenes tie directly into Avengers: Doomsday, the team-up film scheduled for release on Dec. 18. Characters appearing in the new material include Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, Tom Hiddleston's Loki and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner. The scenes were shot during Doomsday production and inserted into the re-release to link the two Avengers stories.[S1]
The promotional campaign for Doomsday began a year before its release, with four short teasers attached to last year's Avatar: Fire and Ash. The first teaser disclosed that Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, and Peggy Carter, played by Hayley Atwell, have a son. The second centered on Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, and his adopted daughter. The third showed Professor Xavier, Magneto and Cyclops, played by Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and James Marsden, crossing from Fox's X-Men universe into the MCU. The fourth united Black Panther, played by Letitia Wright, and the Wakandans with the Fantastic Four, who had traveled from their own universe.[S1]
Loki Visits Steve and Peggy as the Multiverse Frays
One of the new scenes unfolds during Steve and Peggy's dance at the close of Endgame. In the original film, Steve had retired his Captain America identity, handed the shield to Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie, and settled down with Peggy after traveling back in time. In the added scene, Loki arrives at their door. The character was last seen in the finale of Loki Season 2, where he committed himself to holding the entire multiverse together for all time. In the new footage, he appears in his Time Variance Authority uniform, possibly to raise the issue of an unstable branch in the multiverse created by Steve's time travel.[S1]
A companion scene set inside the Time Variance Authority features Mobius, Casey, Ouroboros and Miss Minutes, played by Owen Wilson, Eugene Cordero, Ke Huy Quan and Tara Strong. The group observes two Earths on the verge of colliding in an incursion and opening fire on each other. Additional alternate worlds begin to collide and terminate, and the film reveals that the multiverse as a whole is collapsing. The scene raises the possibility that the two Earths are Fox's X-Men universe and the mainline MCU world. Professor Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Gambit, played by Rebecca Romijn, Alan Cumming and Channing Tatum, are already known to cross into the MCU, which may set up the clash with the Avengers teased in the Doomsday trailer.[S1]
Bruce Banner, Doctor Doom and a Mirrored Origin
During the credits, a fresh sequence shows Bruce Banner being captured after the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. In that summer release, Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) seizes control of his mind, causing him to transform uncontrollably into the Hulk. Tom Holland's Spider-Man subdues the giant, and Bruce is placed in a secure medical facility. In the Endgame Encore credits scene, Bruce labors in an underground bunker on a serum meant to halt his transformations. Doctor Doom then forces his way in, and Bruce shifts into the roaring Hulk to face him, though the result is left unseen. The scene leaves unclear whether Bruce or the Hulk will appear in Doomsday and whether Doctor Doom will control him.[S1]
The last added scene arrives at the very end of the credits, echoing the original Endgame's closing moments, which featured a cryptic metallic clanging. After Endgame's initial release, keen fans determined the sound came from Iron Man as Robert Downey Jr.'s character hammered his armor into shape. The new scene displays glimpses of Doctor Doom forging his metal mask while that same noise is heard. This implies Doom and Iron Man, both played by Downey Jr., might share parallel origins. Avengers: Doomsday opens Dec. 18, the same date as Dune: Part 3, a clash dubbed a Dunesday showdown. Alongside the new scenes, early teasers and a year-long countdown clock, Marvel and Disney are pursuing another blockbuster after Spider-Man: Brand New Day's record-breaking performance.[S1]
