The much-awaited Avengers Endgame: Encore finally released today and has opened amid tremendous excitement across the country. The 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame has returned to cinemas with additional footage that directly sets the stage for Avengers: Doomsday, the next mega chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bollywood Hungama attended an early-morning show of the superhero saga at an IMAX theatre in South Mumbai on the day of its release, Friday, September 25. In this article, we reveal what’s new in Avengers Endgame: Encore and, most importantly, what happens in its much-talked-about new ending and credit scenes. WARNING: Major spoilers ahead!

Before the film begins, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans, aka Tony Stark/Iron Man and Steve Rogers/Captain America, respectively, appear in a special video greeting for the audience. The two stars appreciate moviegoers for returning to watch Avengers: Endgame on the big screen and conclude with the heartwarming line, “We love you 3000! Sit back, relax and enjoy Avengers: Endgame.” The simple gesture was enough to charge up the packed auditorium. Someone in the sold-out audience shouted, “Avengers!”, prompting around 20-30 moviegoers to immediately respond with a thunderous, “Assemble!”

Most fans in the theatre had obviously seen Avengers: Endgame several times over the last seven years. Yet, they watched the three-hour-long film in rapt attention, occasionally breaking into hoots and applause at the memorable moments. As expected, the auditorium erupted during the pre-climax when the fallen superheroes returned and Captain America finally uttered the iconic words, “Avengers… Assemble.” For a few moments, it genuinely felt as if we, too, had time travelled along with the superheroes and landed back in April 2019!

The BIG surprise before the credits

A lot has already been written, and unfortunately leaked, about the new credit scenes. Hence, many Marvel fans knew broadly what was in store. Marvel Studios, however, saves one of the biggest surprises for the actual ending of the film.

The original Avengers: Endgame concluded with Steve Rogers finally getting the life he always wanted, as he is seen romantically dancing with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Avengers Endgame: Encore begins with exactly the same scene. But this time, their dance is interrupted by a knock on the door. Peggy goes to answer it and asks the mysterious visitor, “Can I help you?” The man replies, “No. But I believe I can help both of you.” His identity is then revealed – he is none other than Loki (Tom Hiddleston)! Steve emerges and is stunned to see his former adversary standing at the door.

It is a masterstroke as instead of merely attaching a bonus scene after the credits, Marvel has actually tweaked one of the MCU’s most iconic endings and seamlessly transformed it into a bridge to Avengers: Doomsday. Such an alteration is extremely unusual for a major franchise re-release and ensures that even viewers who know Endgame by heart get a genuine surprise before the credits begin.

It also instantly raises several questions. Why has Loki approached Steve and Peggy? What help does he believe they need? And, most importantly, how will Captain America’s decision to remain in the past tie into the impending multiversal crisis?

The credit scenes

Avengers Endgame: Encore packs in three additional sequences during and after the credits.

The first revolves around Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who is seen recording a video log from inside a heavily secured military bunker located two miles underground. Following his recent troubles with the Hulk, Banner has placed himself in isolation and is working on a new gamma-suppression technique.

Suddenly, the power begins to fluctuate. The lights go out and Banner realizes that someone, or something, has entered the supposedly impenetrable facility. He demands to know who is there. A familiar voice replies that he has come to “collect” Banner. It is Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr, though Doom himself is not clearly shown.

Banner begins transforming into the Hulk and lets out a ferocious roar. When the feed returns, Banner has disappeared. All that remains is an eerie, glowing green sigil on the floor. The scene makes it clear that Doom has now got his hands on one of the most powerful Avengers, though exactly why he needs Hulk remains a mystery.

The next scene takes viewers back to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), last explored extensively in Loki. Mobius (Owen Wilson), O B (Ke Huy Quan) and Casey (Eugene Cordero) are monitoring the multiverse when they discover something alarming: Earth-10005, the universe associated with the Fox X-Men films, is on a collision course with another reality, Earth-1127.

The situation becomes even more frightening when it emerges that the two worlds are firing missiles at one another, seemingly attempting to destroy the other before the impending collision. And then the alarms begin multiplying. More and more universes are facing similar incursions, with the number rapidly running into the thousands. O B finally sums up the terrifying situation: “The multiverse is collapsing!”

It’s a scene that clearly establishes the enormous scale of the crisis awaiting the superheroes in Avengers: Doomsday. It also provides another direct connection to the X-Men universe, whose characters are expected to play an important part in the upcoming film.

Marvel saves one final surprise for the very end.

The original theatrical release of Avengers: Endgame famously did not contain a conventional post-credit scene. Instead, audiences heard the sound of metal being hammered, a nostalgic callback to Tony Stark constructing the Mark I Iron Man armour in a cave in Iron Man (2008).

Endgame: Encore brings back those familiar hammering sounds. Only this time, there are visuals accompanying them. In quick, shadowy glimpses, a figure can be seen hammering metal and forging an unmistakable mask. It’s Victor Von Doom. The sequence beautifully recontextualizes one of Endgame’s most memorable audio callbacks. What once served as a tribute to the beginning of Tony Stark’s journey now doubles up as the beginning of Doctor Doom’s. And with Robert Downey Jr portraying both characters, the visual parallel is impossible to miss.

Seven years after Avengers: Endgame brought one era of the MCU to an emotional close, Avengers Endgame: Encore ensures that its final moments now point directly toward another enormous battle. Hence, expect records to be broken at the box office on December 18.

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