What Those 'Avengers: Endgame' Bonus Scenes Mean for Doomsday

Can I get an encore? Avengers: Endgame: Encore arrived in theaters (and Infinity Vision) this weekend, giving MCU loyalists one more chance to see the epic on the big screen. But really, the big promise of this rerelease was additional footage relating to the events of Avengers: Doomsday, so much so that directors Joe and Anthony Russo called Encore “required viewing” ahead of that movie’s December release. At first, it was hard to tell how much of this was marketing fluff, but we’re here to tell you that Encore delivers on the Russo's lofty promise.But if you didn't have time to make it to the theater this past weekend to experience it for yourself, we’ve got you covered. The four (!) bonus scenes attached to Encore set the stage in a major way for what’s to come, while also adding context to the events of Endgame and other movies like Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It goes without saying, but spoilers abound.A Not So Happy EndingOne of the biggest emotional payoffs in Endgame was Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) getting to have his happy ending with Peggy (Hayley Atwell). The last glimpse of them together was the pair dancing, but Encore hangs on that moment a beat longer. A knock on the door reveals Loki, clad in his Time Variance Authority (TVA) gear. Peggy asks if she can help him and he responds, with his best Jerry Maguire impression, that he can help them.At an event last week, director Anthony Russo confirmed that, when Steve traveled back in time, he created the conditions under which Doomsday will unfold. That likely substantiates our speculation that some sort of horrific incident happened to Doctor Doom—highlighted by this poster—and his family. Now, he’s seeking vengeance on Steve and the Avengers.As for Loki’s appearance at the door, he’s likely there to help shuttle them to a new reality, either to hide from Doom or a possible timeline pruning. Either way, don’t expect Loki and Steve to be done with each other—the trailer suggests Loki gifts Steve one of his TVA badges. Might that be a way for Steve to contact the God of Timelines if something worse happens?Doom Comes to CollectSet after the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the second bonus scene sees a quick check-in with Marvel’s green gamma giant. After Jean Grey puppeteers him, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) locks himself, either by force or on his own accord, in an underground bunker so deep and secure that he’s convinced the Hulk won’t escape. As he continues vlogging, he declares that a newfound suppression treatment has him convinced he can operate normally once again, only for this impending YouTube upload to go horribly awry. The camera cuts in and out as the room turns dark and Doom appears, off-camera, ready to “collect” Banner. As the good doctor hulks out and roars at Doom, the pair vanishes, leaving a Doom-approved, glowing-green runic mark on the floor.While this scene might have made more sense as a post-credits scene for Brand New Day, it’s good to have some closure about why we didn’t see Ruffalo’s name among the many chairs in the initial Doomsday cast announcement. While it’s certainly possible that Ruffalo still shows up in the film—director Anthony Russo recently stated that they’ve only revealed “some” of the cast—if he does, it’ll be on the side of Doom.It’s also a bit murky when, exactly, this scene is meant to take place. Is this part of Doomsday? Or is it before the events of the film? If it’s the latter, that means Doom already has the ability to travel between multiverses, which puts our heroes at even more of a disadvantage. Regardless, Doom now has a Hulk, and that’s a potent force anyway.Chaos at the TVAIf you’ve been following these phases of the MCU, you’ve likely heard (or maybe even read on this very site!) about the idea of an incursion. As originated by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Steve Epting in their New Avengers title, incursions are a cosmic event wherein two different Earths collide with one another. We’ve been hearing about these for a while now, all the way back to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and even saw the beginnings of one in The Marvels.A new scene set at the TVA HQ from the Loki Disney+ series finally lays bare the real dangers. We pick up with a handful of the Loki crew, including Owen Wilson’s Mobius, Eugene Cordero’s Casey, Ke Huy Quan’s O.B., and James Dryden’s Ralph from Deadpool & Wolverine, as they look at a series of monitors while the multiverse collapses into itself. Casey mentions that Earth-10005, home to the Fox X-Men characters, is moments away from colliding with another reality. Still, before that can happen, both universes unleash a barrage of missiles at one another. While this happens, TVA agents shout that other realities are all disappearing in a chaotic frenzy. After the multiversal dust settles, there are only three universes left standing: the mainline MCU, the Fox universe, and the Fantastic Four: The First Steps universe.While the ending of Loki’s second season saw the titular character successfully gather all the strands of the multiverse together, it appears that Steve’s decision to go back in time has unsettled things to such an extent that it’s now causing the end of, well, all things. The scene is also a handy bit of TVA-approved pruning to ensure the stakes of Doomsday are more clearly identifiable: there are now only three universes left, and they’re all on a collision course (shoutout Jay, shoutout Linkin Park) with one another.New Mask, Same Task?At the end of Engame, fans who stuck through the full credits got an audio snippet of metal hammering, evoking the process by which Tony Stark, in a cave with a box of scraps, first became Iron Man. In Encore, audiences are treated to similar hammering, but the scenes take on a new context.While it’s a fleeting glimpse, the sound is revealed to be that of Robert Downey Jr’s Victor Von Doom hammering out his Doctor Doom mask instead of the Iron Man helm, recasting a once-heroic, albeit somber, moment in a more menacing light.But is there a chance the scene means something more? Since he was cast as Doom, fans have speculated that Downey might be playing Doctor Doom as a multiversal variant of Tony Stark gone evil. I’ve always argued that would cheapen the death of Tony in Endgame, and that leveraging nostalgia to raise Tony’s emotional stakes in Doomsday would be a misfire. However, when Downey came on stage at Comic-Con all those years ago, he quipped the now-famous “new mask, same task” line. With that in mind, I’d wager the scene is more thematic. Tony frequently wanted to save the world on his terms. Based on what Doom believes to be his mission in Doomsday—that he’s the only one with the knowledge and power to save the multiverse—that’s likely the intended parallel between RDJ’s two MCU characters. But we’ll find out for sure on December 18, 2026.