Even though it was released a few short months before Spider-Man: Far From Home, Avengers: Doomsday didn't feature any post-credits scenes. However, right at the very end of the credits, we heard the familiar sound of Tony Stark forging his first Iron Man armour.
It was meant as a tribute to the fallen hero who had kicked off the MCU over a decade earlier, but in the newly released Avengers Endgame: Encore, it takes on a completely different meaning.
This time, we see Doctor Doom forging his armour. Understandably, that's led to renewed speculation about there being a link between the villain and Iron Man, especially with Robert Downey Jr. behind both masks.
In an interview with Empire Online, the Russo Brothers were asked what they could reveal about the scene. "There is certainly a symmetry at play here," Joe teased. "There is an interesting examination of good and evil at play. And I think that that scene at the end, obviously it's intended to be almost identical. It's because there's a duality being explored."
"I will say this: there are clues in Endgame, things that are said, that will pay off in Doomsday," he added. "So if you want to go back and revisit the movie again – not the new footage but lines that are said in the movie – [there are some] that have an impact on Doomsday."
So, just like there's a Captain America and Human Torch with Chris Evans' likeness, it certainly sounds like the Multiverse could have created a Victor Von Doom with Tony Stark's face.
Moving on to Incursions, Joe teased the significance of those universes fighting each other to stay alive (at least one of them is Earth-10005, the home of the X-Men). It turns out that nothing on those monitors is there without purpose.
"Everything is premeditated. Every inch of footage that you see has some relevance in some way," the filmmaker revealed. "There are clues in every piece of that new footage, that can lead you to a greater story in Doomsday."
With that, Joe went on to explain the importance of seeing Avengers Endgame: Encore on the big screen, regardless of how it leads directly into this December's Avengers: Doomsday:
"I mean, I would argue if you're gonna go see it, who knows if this movie will ever be back in theatres? This was a request of ours to go back into the movie, and really push this film back out again. Because one of the greatest sights of our lives was getting to stand there at the back of a theatre on opening night of Avengers: Endgame, and all the work we'd done over seven years, all that hard work paying off. The energy felt like a rock concert. That sense of community, everybody sharing that story together."
"And there's a generation that has only seen it from their couch, or their living room. And people like to go see these movies with family members, and with children and with grandparents. This is just one more opportunity for them to go out and have a communal experience again. Movies are, frankly, one of the only things left that really truly bind us and give us shared experiences. That, sporting events, concerts, you know. And so to have an opportunity to take a movie like this, that really galvanised people, we're excited, and we really wanted that opportunity to be there again for the audience."
A new poster for Avengers Endgame: Encore has also been released today, which you can see below.