Marvel Sends Avengers: Endgame Back to Theatres With New Footage Ahead of Doomsday
Joe Russo says you will need to have seen Avengers: Endgame to follow Avengers: Doomsday. On 25 September, Marvel is putting a re-release called Avengers: Endgame Encore into theatres to make sure audiences can. The Encore cut runs 185 minutes — roughly four minutes longer than the original 2019 film — and includes a sneak peek at Doomsday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Russo, who co-directed Endgame and returns to helm Doomsday with his brother Anthony, told Fandango that the Encore re-release is "going to connect the story of the two movies" and constitutes "required viewing for following the story in Doomsday." Anthony Russo added a tease about where the connective tissue leads: "If you saw Endgame when it was originally released, you couldn't see this coming" (The Hollywood Reporter).
Marvel confirmed the 25 September date on its own website on 25 August, and the project was first unveiled during the studio's Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July (Marvel.com, Marvel.com).
The Encore cut is not the first time Marvel has sent Endgame back to cinemas. A "Bring Back" event ran in June 2019, weeks after the film's initial release. But this version carries a different purpose: it is a bridge, not a victory lap.
There is also a record at stake. Avengers: Endgame currently sits at $2.79 billion in global box office, one place behind Avatar, the James Cameron film that holds the all-time record at roughly $2.9 billion. If the Encore re-release generates enough ticket sales, Endgame could overtake Avatar to become the highest-grossing film in history (The Hollywood Reporter).
The timing is no accident. Avengers: Doomsday opens 18 December and has already pulled in millions in advance ticket sales after going on sale across all theatres in mid-July (The Hollywood Reporter). The film returns Robert Downey Jr. to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a new role — the villain Doctor Doom — after his character Tony Stark died at the end of Endgame.
Marvel is layering the rollout. The fifth episode of its official Count Down to Avengers: Doomsday podcast, focused on Endgame, lands 24 September — the night before the Encore release (Marvel.com).
For audiences, the pitch is simple. See the extended Endgame in late September, catch the Doomsday preview bolted onto the end, and arrive in December caught up on the story Russo says you will need.
