Avengers: Endgame: Encore Thoughts! Is it Worth It?

Avengers: Endgame: Encore Thoughts! Is it Worth It?

Avengers: Endgame has assembled back into theaters this weekend but this time with bonus footage teasing Avengers: Doomsday. I was able to see this last night including the new footage. What did I think about it? Let’s talk about it!

The Experience of Avengers: Endgame: I’ve been seeing a lot about the experience and people questioning why people are paying to see Avengers: Endgame in the theaters when they’re paying $15 just to see four minutes of additional footage. I find that whole argument to be stupid because you know exactly why people are going to this movie. It’s tracking to be the biggest opening weekend ever for a re-release. The reason for that isn’t because of the extra footage, it’s the experience of seeing Endgame on the big screen again. To me, the extra footage was the cherry on top of the experience, I was just excited to experience the film on the big screen again. I’ve said this many times before but seeing Endgame in theaters opening night is the greatest theater experience of my entire life. Nothing comes close to it as it was so special, and it was truly this event that was worthy of being seen in the theaters. When people are calling others stupid for seeing Endgame, it’s a stupid argument and it makes you look stupid. Some are frustrated with the fact that we have multiple original movies coming out with Forgotten Island, Primetime, and Heart of the Beast and people are choosing to re-watch Endgame. People are watching the movies they want to see, and it shouldn’t be surprising that people are seeing Endgame on the big screen. It’s a special event and seeing that movie on the big screen with a room full of Marvel fans is more special and interesting than seeing Forgotten Island (which is good) on the big screen. 

THE NEW SCENES: Now, I’m going to breakdown the additional footage that was added to connect the film to Avengers: Doomsday. The nature of this means that I’ll be SPOILING what those scenes are about. 

• Loki with Steve and Peggy: This was the first part that was played as the ending of the movie. Instead of the movie ending with Steve and Peggy dancing they add a few more seconds to the end of it. The scene reveals how Steve Rogers is coming back to Doomsday. Loki comes to warn him about the multiverse and that they need Steve’s help. You put this scene next to recent comments from Anthony Russo who said that Steve going back to visit Peggy is what caused Avengers: Doomsday to take place. I feel like it does give some context for Doomsday that I think was appreciated and needed. You start to see how all of this is coming together and the role that Loki and the TVA will play in it, which we’ll talk about later. This scene sets up this interesting dynamic with Steve and Loki. Because Loki is this changed character by the end of Loki season 2 and the last time Steve saw Loki, he just finished trying to destroy New York City. He doesn’t know that Loki changed through his shows or even through the course of the movies with Ragnarok. There’s a lot of interesting dynamics and interactions that can come from this and I’m curious just how much they’re going to dive into this. 
  

• Doctor Doom gets the Hulk: This is one that was unfortunately leaked before it came out. People were running with headlines that said Mark Ruffalo will return in Avengers: Doomsday as per leaks from Avengers: Endgame: Encore, so I knew that one of the scenes was going to have Mark Ruffalo. The scene is a follow-up to Brand New Day where now Bruce Banner is in this underground lab and explains that he’s miles beneath the surface and concrete covers him. He says and immediately the feed gets weird and wacky and Doctor Doom comes to recruit the Hulk for whatever his plans and motivations are in Doomsday. One of the interesting details in here is that you hear Hulk’s roar, so angry Hulk has been unleashed once again. I’ve seen some people say this should’ve been the mid-credit for Brand New Day instead of the little Spider-Man is on a different Earth tease that I’m assuming is setting up either Doomsday or Secret Wars. I think had this played at the end of Brand New Day, it’s a more exciting scene and leaves you on a high note. At the same time, I think keeping the end credit scene focused on Spider-Man and not the Hulk makes sense for a Spider-Man movie. I can get the logic of people saying that it should’ve been the end credit scene, it works as is.
  

• TVA Involvement: This is one that if you didn’t see the movie in Infinity Vision you didn’t get to see. This is one that on the one hand wasn’t too surprising, but it also was surprising on the other hand. We or at least I figured the TVA were going to be involved in some way. We knew that Loki was coming back and with the multiverse being featured heavily in the film, it makes sense for the TVA to be in the film. This sequence confirms that with Owen Wilson and Ke Huy Quan returning in this movie. It’ll be interesting to see how big of a role these characters play in the film. There’s also a great sight gag in here where there’s a picture of Loki on the wall that reads “employee of all time” which is a fun little nod for where they left him in Loki season 2. But we also get this threat teased by Doctor Doom that the multiverses and universes are quickly being destroyed where within seconds 3,000 different universes are destroyed. Of the scenes added, this one is my favorite because it reveals characters who are in the movie, you get a solid joke in there, and it teases the threat and danger of Doctor Doom. You understand why the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Fox X-Men, and the TVA are involved. It's because Doctor Doom is quickly destroying different universes. 

• Doctor Doom Tease: This is one that we had to wait for the very end to see and it’s just the clanking sound of Tony Stark building the Iron Man mask but intercut with footage of Doctor Doom. I’ve seen some people imply that this means Doctor Doom is a Tony Stark variant. I don’t know if that’s what that means, but I think it’s meant to show a parallel between Tony Stark building his Iron Man mask and Victor Von Doom building his Doctor Doom mask. This does imply that Doom is a Tony Stark variant, who knows we’ll just have to wait and see until the movie comes out and see who exactly Robert Downey Jr is playing in these movies.