Avengers: Endgame managed to return to theaters seven years later with this Fall’s Avengers: Endgame Encore, not only delivering new footage for the movie that directly connected it to the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday but giving Marvel Studios the chance to add even more money to the film’s box office total. After adding an additional $142.9 million from the global box office to its total, the MCU mega hit officially eclipsed James Cameron’s Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Avengers: Endgame Encore played in theaters for just over thirty days, even winning the box office in its first weekend and beating out three brand new releases for the top spot. Now, the movie is finally coming home. Disney+ has confirmed that Avengers: Endgame Encore will officially begin streaming on the platform this Friday, November 13. Though the arrival of the footage that connects the film to Avengers: Doomsday (or which might very well BE Avengers: Doomsday footage) may have been the big selling point for the movie’s release, it’s not the real reason to watch it.
Though Doomsday footage was how Marvel managed to get audiences in the door to watch the new movie, it wasn’t the only change actually made to the film. In addition to extending the ending of the movie with Peggy and Steve meeting Loki, plus mid- and post-credit teases that teased the TVA’s place in Doomsday and the making of Doctor Doom’s mask, Avengers: Endgame Encore also delivered an all-new color grading for the movie, giving it a visual punch that the original release lacked and actively improving the clarity of the images, especially in the final battle.
The change in color grading for Avengers: Endgame Encore may not be immediately obvious to some, but the change in contrast across the film, with colors that actually pop out and don’t have a washed-out tone, is pretty striking in some instances. Perhaps the most obvious place it can be seen is in the final act of the film when Thanos’ siege on the Avengers compound begins to unfold. Not only does the final battle in the film now have more of a pop to it, but details that were previously muddied by the darker image are now more visible.
One thing that remains to be seen about the change in color grading for Avengers: Endgame Encore, though, is how much of that alteration was due to filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo wanting to enhance the movie years later or how much of it was in maintaining even more visual consistency with Avengers: Doomsday.
The good news for Marvel fans is that not only will Avengers: Endgame Encore finally arrive on Disney+ this week and offer those who didn’t watch it in theaters a chance to see all the footage and the changes to the movie’s visuals, but it will arrive with all of the extra scenes that weren’t viewable in every format.
