Avengers Endgame: Encore features multiple post-credits scenes, but the most noteworthy includes the surprise return of Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner. After his recent appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Hulk went Savage for the first time in years, prompting Bruce to go into hiding.
Sequestered miles beneath the ground while he researches ways to suppress the Green Goliath, Bruce is shocked when Doctor Doom appears and, after casting a spell, transforms him into The Hulk and spirits the Avenger away somewhere.
Now, we have an official look at this Avengers Endgame: Encore's stinger, which directly sets up this December's Avengers: Doomsday.
It's also been confirmed that the sequence was shot by Second Unit Director Anthony Leonardi. He's previously helmed many MCU-adjacent commercials, including the iconic Coca-Cola advert featuring The Hulk and Ant-Man. He previously served as a Second Unit Director for the Russo Brothers on The Gray Man.
"It’s a very difficult part of the process because, I mean, we basically just have to use our own meters because we love the characters, we love the history, we love them in the same way that many fans do," Anthony Russo recently said of finding the right balance between honouring beloved characters and moving the MCU forward.
He continued, "But the one thing we always like to remind people of, you know, fandom does not speak with a single voice. There’s a wide variety of opinions in terms of who responds to which characters and which versions of which characters people respond to; it’s a very complex relationship that people have with the characters."
Adding that he and Joe have "a lot of respect for the storytelling journey that these characters have had up to this point," the filmmaker said, "That’s part of their magic, a big part of their magic. But at the same time, we need to surprise ourselves in terms of who those characters are, where they can go, what they can do, what can happen, and in doing that, we hopefully surprise audiences as well."
The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie features an epic ensemble which includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin.
"Avengers: Endgame is a masterpiece which not only delivers on every expectation you had but exceeds ones you didn't even think about," we wrote in our review of the re-release. "This isn't just a movie; it's an experience and one that only gets better for its Encore."
Avengers Endgame: Encore is now playing in theaters.