We’re a little over a month away from Avengers: Doomsday so you might want to make time this weekend to watch the re-release of Avengers: Endgame, which has just landed on Disney+ worldwide.
Officially titled Avengers Endgame: Encore, the new version of the MCU epic adds an extra five minutes of footage that acts as a bridge between Endgame and Avengers: Doomsday, including an extended ending, plus three mid-credit scenes that will be required viewing ahead of Doomsday.
But if you don’t have time, we get it. So we’re here to help with all the information you need about the new scenes and why they are – according to the Russo Brothers – “required viewing” for following the story in Doomsday.
Avengers: Endgame has a new ending
Marvel Studios
The first bonus scene actually arrives before the credits roll. In the original version, Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter kiss, two soulmates finally reunited at last after Captain America decided to stay in the past and live out the rest of his life with her.
Encore undoes that happy ending though when the pair suddenly hear a knock at the door. Peggy cautiously answers as Steve hides, only to be greeted by Loki who tells them both that he’s here to help.
So which version of Loki is this? Could it be the one who worked with the TVA (aka, the Time Variance Authority, aka, Marvel’s multiverse police) in Loki’s Disney+ show? At the end of season two, the Asgardian god became the anchor for all of time upon realising that the ever-expanding multiverse was going to be destroyed.
Either this version of Loki is able to visit Earth still somehow, or this could also be an earlier version who is just travelling throughout time before the bonkers events of that series finale.
Whatever the case might be, it’s tied into the mystery of how Steve returns in Avengers: Doomsday. Could it be that Loki moves Steve and Peggy (plus their eventual son) to another branch of the multiverse for their own protection? Doom complains about “stolen lives” lived in the Doomsday trailer, which could refer to Steve’s abuse of time travel.
This could even be what’s causing the “incursions” that threaten the Multiverse (more on them in a bit). If so, Doom might actually be doing us all a favour. That would be in line with the villain’s self righteous approach to evil.
Bruce Banner meets Doctor Doom
Marvel Studios
After Jean Grey unleashed the Hulk’s rage in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, we didn’t see what happened to Bruce Banner next. Now we know: he’s locked up miles beneath the earth to ensure that the Green Goliath can’t hurt anyone again.
In the first credits scene (which are spaced out during the credits), the now-bearded scientist explains in a video that he has been working on new Gamma-suppression techniques to quell the beast’s rage. His monologue is soon interrupted, however, when a visitor suddenly appears, awash in a green glow.
“Who are you?” asks Banner. The unseen figure replies just off screen, explaining that he’s come to “collect” Bruce. We then hear the Hulk’s roar before they both vanish, leaving only a glowing green sigil on the floor.
Doom clearly teleported in using his signature magic, but to what end? It seems that the Latverian ruler has need of Hulk or perhaps Banner. Is it Bruce’s intellect he’s after? Or Hulk’s strength? Perhaps Doom plans to brainwash Hulk or use his gamma strength somehow?
Unless it’s all a misdirect, this scene also confirms that Mark Ruffalo will be back as Bruce/Hulk in Doomsday. Whatever he’ll be doing, we can expect a whole lot of smashing… and a team-up with Scarlet Witch if VisionQuest’s credit scene is anything to go by.
Back to the TVA 
Marvel Studios
In the second credit scene, we return to the TVA, last seen in Loki. Miss Minutes welcomes us back as we spot a picture of Loki labelled “Employee of All Time”. Other employees, including Ke Huy Quan’s Ouroboros and Owen Wilson’s Mobius, are shown monitoring the multiverse like usual when everything suddenly starts to go wrong.
An “incursion” is taking place between Earth-10005 and Earth-1127. Before the two planets collide, both realities fire missiles at each other. The TVA has no time to reach though because more and more incursions suddenly occur, first dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, all at once.
“The Multiverse is collapsing,” says Mobius, which means an incalculable number of people across all of existence have been wiped out at once. That probably explains why the Fantastic Four were seen heading to the primary MCU reality at the end of Thunderbolts*, to escape the incursion that’s destroying their world.
They’re not the only familiar faces who are suffering at this point either. While the new scene doesn’t point this out directly, Earth 10005 is actually the Fox X-Men Universe established in the series starring Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman.
Several of the original X-Men have been confirmed to return in Doomsday, so at least some have survived the incursion, including James Marsden’s Cyclops and Ian McKellen’s Magneto. But what of the X-Men characters who won’t appear in Doomsday? It seems they’re all dead now, destroyed in the incursion that wiped out their reality.
Perhaps the reason why we see the X-Men fight the Avengers in Doomsday trailers is because they need to wipe each other out to save their own reality, just like those planets firing the missiles were.
Whatever happens, it seems likely that at least some TVA characters will return again in Doomsday, even though none of Loki’s supporting cast have been confirmed as of yet.
Bye bye Tony Stark
Marvel Studios
The final stinger is a lot shorter than the rest, but no less devastating. Avengers: Endgame originally ended with the sound of Iron Man forging his armour, a painful reminder of Tony Stark’s death that also paid homage to his first appearance in 2008, the Iron Man movie that kickstarted this entire universe.
Well, that full-circle moment has been twisted into something horrific, because that same sound now accompanies Doctor Doom forging his mask ahead of Doomsday. The quiet reverence of that Iron Man callback now portends doom of a very literal kind.
Marvel is clearly having a lot of fun with Downey’s casting as Doom, foreboding the way that our faves will react when they see the face of Iron Man is now sported by their new enemy.
It’s obviously a complete retcon of that original post-credit sound and it’s sure to annoy some MCU fans, but we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out in Doomsday.
Avengers Endgame: Encore is now available to watch on Disney+.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.