It’s been more than seven years since Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” hit theaters and broke (Hulk-)box office records, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time.
The film is planned to be released in theaters once again on September 25. This time, an estimated four minutes were added to the original running time.
The film, which united the MCU’s original Avengers Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye against the supervillain warlord Thanos, marked the end of the first decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So why has he returned to the big screen with a bit of extra footage?
The film’s directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, described the rerun as a “must-see” and prepared viewers for the future of the “Avengers” franchise.
When and Where Will ‘Avengers Endgame: Encore’ Be Released?
The movie, starring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and many other important names, will be in theaters once again on Friday, September 25 under the name “Avengers Endgame: Encore”.
The film will be presented in standard laser projection and IMAX, as it was when it was first released. It will also be featured in Infinity Vision, a Disney-exclusive certification badge for premium large-format movie theaters.
Those who watch the movie in IMAX and Infinity Vision will also be able to watch an additional preview of the next movie in the “Avengers” series, “Avengers: Doomsday”, which will be released on December 18.
Why Is ‘Avengers Endgame’ Re-Released?
The Russo brothers, who directed Endgame, said that this re-released version should be watched before Apocalypse, which they also directed.
In an interview with Fandango, Joe Russo explained that the re-release with added footage is the connective tissue that connects the previous “Avengers” films to the next installment; This episode will herald the arrival of the new supervillain Doctor Doom, again played by Downey Jr..
“There’s a natural progression from Endgame to ‘Judgment Day,’ and that includes other ongoing stories,” Joe Russo told Fandango during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
Joe Russo added that fans can of course also relive all the shocking developments in Endgame.
Anthony Russo also revealed that the extra few minutes are expected to include some pretty big moments.
“If you watched ‘Endgame’ when it first aired, you wouldn’t have guessed this was going to happen,” he told Fandango.
What Makes This Rerelease Necessary for Upcoming MCU Stories?
The original release of “Endgame” was followed by the introduction of villain Kang the Conquerer in 2021 television series “Loki.” And he’s a villain that Marvel has since abandoned.
Kang, played by Jonathan Majors, was a time traveler who discovered the existence of the Multiverse and sought to conquer and rule it all.
The villain was once poised to replace Thanos as the MCU’s new Big Bad; Marvel has delved into the multiverse plot, even going so far as to announce an “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” movie in 2022. It will be a sequel to “Endgame”. At the time, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige even told fans that the film would be released in May 2025.
Majors has appeared in a number of Marvel productions, including “Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” But he was removed from the studio in 2023 after he was convicted by a New York City jury of misdemeanor assault and harassment.
Majors sent a letter to Feige following the termination. In a 2025 interview with Variety, Majors told the publication that his letter to the Marvel Studios chief included his appreciation for the role.
“I loved my time at Marvel, and I still love Kang,” Majors said, later saying he was “not sorry at all” about the exit. “I watch them. I see what they are doing and I strive for them. If they need me, they know where I am.”
Meanwhile, the MCU pursued a different villain, bringing back Downey Jr., the beloved actor behind Tony Stark/Iron Man, to take on the role of Doctor Doom. Feige said the decision to center came before the Majors’ discussion.
“We had started before what happened to the actor happened,” Feige said in a roundtable interview with the press in 2025. “We were starting to realize that Kang wasn’t big enough, that he wasn’t Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be him, because that was him in the comics for decades.”