Avengers: Endgame Is Back in Theaters — and It’s Handing Fans Their First Look at Doomsday

Theaters this week aren't just revisiting Avengers: Endgame — they're using it as a doorway to what comes next. Marvel's Avengers: Endgame Encore kicked off September 25, bringing the 2019 finale back to cinemas for a limited run, with every screening packed with nearly two minutes of brand-new material and IMAX and "Infinity Vision" audiences treated to an extended sneak peek at Avengers: Doomsday. What looks at first like a nostalgic victory lap turns out to be a carefully staged bridge to the next era of the MCU.

The new footage gives fans plenty to dissect. Among its biggest beats: Loki reappearing to Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter right after their long-delayed dance to pull them into a multiverse problem, TVA agents Mobius and O.B. warning that thousands of universes are colliding, and a post-credits scene in which Bruce Banner is cornered in an underground bunker by Doctor Doom himself. Even the 2019 film's original end-credits sound has been quietly reworked, now paired with images of Doom forging his mask — a small change that says a lot about where this story is headed.

That story is Avengers: Doomsday, arriving December 18 and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the duo behind Infinity War and Endgame. Set roughly 14 months after Thunderbolts*, it pulls heroes from three separate universes — the Avengers and their allies, the Fantastic Four, and the Fox-era X-Men — onto a collision course as the multiverse collapses, with Robert Downey Jr. trading his Iron Man armor for the role of Victor von Doom. The ensemble spans Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and many more, making it one of the biggest casts the franchise has ever assembled.

The anticipation is already measurable: the official Doomsday trailer pulled more than 503 million views in its first 24 hours after debuting in July, and a fresh special look surfaced at D23 with Feige, Downey Jr., Evans, and Hayley Atwell on stage. For now, though, the Encore screenings are where the Marvel conversation is happening — proof that Endgame still fills seats seven years on, and that its final scene was never really the end of the journey. Tickets are available for the limited run, and the movie it's setting up arrives in December.

SPOILER WARNING: The following details the new scenes in Avengers: Endgame Encore. Read on only if you want to know before you go.

The Encore's roughly two minutes of new material begin with a moment fans have waited seven years to see resolved: right as Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter settle into their long-awaited dance, Loki appears to pull them into a multiverse crisis still unfolding. The stakes get spelled out when TVA agents Mobius and O.B. pop up on monitors warning that thousands of universes are crashing into each other — the same catastrophe that will define Doomsday. The biggest reveal is saved for the post-credits slot, where Bruce Banner, hiding out in an underground bunker, is tracked down and cornered by Doctor Doom, who announces he's there to collect him. Even the film's original end-credits audio has been quietly altered: the familiar metallic clanging now plays over shots of Doom forging his mask, retroactively turning Endgame's closing beat into a setup for its villain.