Avengers: Endgame is set to return to the big screen this weekend (the re-release will be titled Avengers Endgame: Encore), and Marvel Studios has now released a final international trailer.
We had heard that Encore would include brand-new footage (likely a new post-credits scene) that would more directly connect the movie to Avengers: Doomsday, but a recent Marvel press release seemed to debunk the rumor.
"The special Encore presentation of the record-breaking film includes an exclusive look at the highly anticipated December 18 release of Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday."
Even so, rumors persist that the extended cut will feature at least a couple of new scenes right at the end (whether they will take the form of a post-credits stinger is unclear), and MTTSH has now shared some surprising details.
Apparently, we will see "Loki visiting Steve" and "Doom recruiting Hulk, telling him he needs him."
This isn't the first time we've heard that Loki will drop in on Steve Rogers, but Doom recruiting the Hulk? Does this mean the Green Goliath will be working with the villain in Doomsday? Mark Ruffalo has yet to be confirmed to appear in the movie, so perhaps this will be more of a set-up for Avengers: Secret Wars.
Previous rumors have claimed that Secret Wars will feature both Banner and Jennifer Walters, as well as "many" other Hulks. This would align with the (supposedly) leaked concept art that circulated online last year, with one image featuring multiple Hulks in a village. Speculation points to Banner, Walters, Skarr, and other Hulk variants populating the Gamma-irradiated zone of Battleworld known as Greenland.
This is just one theory based on the artwork, but several scoopers have claimed that Secret Wars will include Banner and Walters, at the very least.
Endgame opened to an incredible $1.2 billion worldwide back in 2019, and held the record for the highest-grossing movie of all time ($2.799 billion) until the re-release of James Cameron's Avatar reclaimed the spot.
While speaking at the Sands Film Festival in April, co-director of both movies, Joe Russo, described the re-release as a "critical companion story" and a "setup for what you’re gonna watch in December when you see Avengers: Doomsday."
"It’s critically important to re-release the movie, and, in fact, we’ll be re-releasing the film with footage that is set in the Doomsday story that we have added to Avengers: Endgame."
"It’s an opportunity to create a bridge from Endgame to Doomsday in a very unique way, and because the movie was so successful, we have an opportunity to re-release it," he added. "You don’t always get the chance to re-release because it costs money, so the fact that we can enhance the story of Doomsday by bridging it to Endgame and these characters that we worked with for years that we love so much, and continue their story: It’s a really unique opportunity."
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were hit with significant delays last year, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Universes collide and the Multiverse Saga begins its final chapter in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday. Beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and ultimately face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered. This epic film will lay the foundation for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."
Doomsday will star:
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Along with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.