For seven years, Avengers: Endgame ended with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) dancing at home, finally able to share the life they had been denied. In Avengers: Endgame Encore, that moment has now been altered.
Warning: this article contains spoilers
With the music still playing, their dance is now interrupted by a knock at the door. Outside stands Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who says he has come to help them.
It is an intrusion I had expected to resent. Endgame gave Marvel’s first generation of heroes a conclusion that remains among the studio’s greatest achievements, and reopening it to promote Avengers: Doomsday risked diminishing something the franchise has struggled to match since. Yet the scene works, changing how we understand Steve’s decision to stay in the past and making the next film feel like a natural development of this one.
The groundwork is already there. When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) discovers how to travel through time, he briefly considers putting the discovery away and returning to his family. In 2019, the scene anticipated the personal cost of his decision to help the Avengers. Now, his hesitation carries a wider significance: their efforts to reverse one catastrophe will have consequences far beyond his death.
Their journey into the past allows Loki to escape with the Tesseract, setting up the television series that places him at the centre of the multiverse. Steve then chooses to remain with Peggy, a decision the original film treats as his well-earned reward. Loki’s arrival raises the possibility that this was also a selfish choice, made without understanding what it might mean for anyone else.
These connections have been strengthened in retrospect, of course. Marvel spent years building towards Kang before changing direction and bringing Downey back as Doctor Doom. What surprised me is how organic the result feels. Endgame now supplies a convincing foundation for that story, giving the coming conflict roots in characters and decisions we already care about.
First encounter with Doom
The additions continue during the credits. Following the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has confined himself to an underground bunker after losing control of Hulk. While he works on a new gamma inhibitor, Doom arrives to “collect” him.
Downey’s voice is the most encouraging part of the encounter. Controlled and menacing, it establishes a character distinct from Tony before we see his face. The casting remains a gamble, but there is enough here to make me want to see what he does with the role.
Other additions deliberately complicate that distinction. At the Time Variance Authority, 3,000 worlds are shown ending, giving a grim echo to Tony and his daughter’s “I love you 3,000”.
The hammering that closed the original film also returns. Once a reminder of Tony building his first Iron Man suit, it now accompanies Doom forging his mask, with Downey’s face flickering into view. Familiar tributes become warnings, although how the next film will handle its villain’s resemblance to Tony remains an open question.
How does Endgame hold up?
There is still a three-hour film to watch before most of this arrives, and Endgame largely earns the return. Steve wielding Mjolnir, the portals opening and Tony’s sacrifice retain their power because of the years spent building towards them. Even with its enormous cast, the film understands whose stories need our attention.
Some of its habits have aged less well. The quips are more conspicuous, and the reliance on green-screen environments occasionally leaves the actors looking stranded inside the spectacle. After the more tangible settings of Thunderbolts* and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, those stretches feel particularly artificial. They are easier to notice on a repeat viewing, when anticipation is no longer carrying us through.
But even with the seams showing, this film is still never boring, with its runtime of three hours and 10 minutes still breezing by.
Whether that warrants another cinema ticket depends on your attachment to the film. Fans who feel they have watched it enough times can probably skip this return without struggling to follow Doomsday.
I went in sceptical, however, and was glad to have seen the additions, though they fundamentally alter the film. Tony’s sacrifice still holds, while Steve’s happiness has become more precarious. Marvel has given itself a compelling way forward; Doomsday now needs to make those consequences worth reopening the door.
Avengers: Endgame Encore is now in cinemas across the Middle East
