Despite sporting a three-hour run time, Avengers: Endgame is one of the most rewatchable superhero movies in recent memory. As the grand finale to the Infinity Saga, it delivered an epic storyline that served as the culmination for a variety of character arcs and plot lines that fans had been following for nearly a decade. Chock full of memorable moments and thrilling action, Endgame was a genuine celebration of everything Marvel had built to that point, and viewers couldn’t get enough. Endgame would not have grossed a whopping $2.799 billion worldwide without the benefit of repeat viewings, and the film has been rewatched countless times on home media. Marvel fans don’t need a reason to revisit Endgame, but they just got a big one.
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At the Sands Film Festival (via Deadline), Endgame and Avengers: Doomsday co-director Joe Russo shed light on the upcoming Endgame theatrical re-release happening this fall. It will contain new footage that connects to 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,” Russo said. “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. 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.”
Russo added that the Endgame re-release is a “critical companion story” to Doomsday consisting of “setup for what you’re gonna watch in December when you see Avengers: Doomsday.”
What Will We See in the New Avengers: Endgame Footage?
While Russo was able to describe the new Endgame footage as a bridge to Doomsday, he didn’t reveal what it would specifically entail. That information is being saved for now in an effort to preserve surprises. Marvel will likely use the new footage as a hook when it comes time to promote the Endgame re-release by teasing what viewers can expect, but that won’t be for another handful of months. In the meantime, fans will be debating what Marvel could have in store, generating an abundance of theories.
Arguably, the most likely scenario is that the new footage will primarily revolve around Steve Rogers, who is set to make his anticipated return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Doomsday. The fan-favorite Rogers was the main focus of the first Doomsday teaser, which revealed he’s now a father. It’s long been speculated that Steve caused a multiverse incursion when he decided to stay in the past with Peggy Carter, serving as the catalyst for the main Doomsday narrative. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if the fresh additions to Endgame fleshed out Steve’s story, touching on the ramifications his choices have on the fabric of the multiverse. It could also be an opportunity to answer some of the pressing questions fans have had for years about Endgame concerning the logistics of Steve’s time-traveling adventure.
Outside of Steve Rogers, there doesn’t appear to be another way to organically connect Endgame to Doomsday in a re-release such as this. Thor is set to have a key role in Doomsday, but his post-Endgame journey was depicted in Thor: Love and Thunder. The X-Men had no role to play in Endgame, so it would be jarring if they were tacked on towards the end. In contrast, Steve’s Doomsday story seems to pick up months after the final shot of Endgame, so extra footage with him would be the most natural fit. It’s also unknown exactly how much new footage there will be, but fans shouldn’t expect more than a handful of minutes. So much of Endgame is built around the Time Heist and defeating Thanos. It would completely disrupt the pacing if Doomsday setup was forced in the middle of the film. Instead, there will likely be new content towards the end, setting the stage for December’s blockbuster.
Die-hard Marvel fans will be thrilled to have a new reason to check out Avengers: Endgame again, but there will also likely be those who find this approach quite frustrating. The prospect of planning a day around a trip to the theater to see a 3+ hour movie that’s been available on home media for seven years may not be very appealing to some. It’ll be interesting to see if Marvel eventually decides to make the extra Endgame footage more readily available, perhaps making it an extra on Disney+, releasing the scenes on YouTube, or putting out a new version of the Blu-ray. That way, more people could see this all-important setup in the months leading up to Doomsday.
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