MCU fans were more than a little concerned when it was revealed that Marvel would be re-releasing a brand-new cut of Avengers: Endgame ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. Understandably, the concern was that the new version of the movie would be changed specifically to better suit what happens in Doomsday as a way for the MCU to cheat the system a bit and make the two narratives feel more connected than they might otherwise be. That was only speculative, but it did make sense as a concern, considering that this new release was being positioned as critical heading into Doomsday. It was therefore surprising when the runtime for what is being referred to as Avengers: Endgame Encore was reported to only be four minutes longer than the original cut of the movie.
Now, a new trailer for Endgame: Encore has been released, although it doesn’t reveal any major hints about the changes that have been made or why the changes would only result in four extra minutes of runtime. That doesn’t mean that no adjustments were noticeable, though. On the contrary, in addition to it being fun that this new trailer can now reveal several key plot details that the original trailers obviously couldn’t (such as the fact that Iron Man ultimately wears an Infinity Gauntlet and has his own snap moment, in addition to the return of every character Thanos snapped away in Avengers: Infinity War), fans have caught on to one seemingly significant change—and, shockingly, many are actually saying that this makes the new cut so much better than the original.
There’s little doubt that Endgame is among the best MCU movies. In fact, until recently, it seemed largely unrivaled in terms of its reception, although Spider-Man: Brand New Day is certainly challenging that at least with box office numbers. Regardless, because of its massive scale, significance to the overall timeline, and incredible, franchise-defining moments—be it Captain America wielding Thor’s hammer, Tony Stark saying “I am Iron Man,” or innumerable other iconic scenes—Endgame is a fan-favorite movie worthy of the praise it’s received over the last several years. That only makes it all the more shocking that fans have seen the new Endgame: Encore trailer and actually started saying that it’s an improvement.
Specifically, fans are calling out the color grading on the Encore trailer, which does seem to be at least more saturated than the original movie. There are a number of possibilities at play, one of which is that the trailer is more saturated than the actual cut of the re-released movie is going to be and another of which is that posts online may be editing images of the trailer. Even with those considerations being acknowledged, though, this newly released trailer does look noticeably more vibrant in terms of its coloring than the original Endgame movie did—and, surprisingly, it’s true that it looks better. MCU fans have taken to the internet to express that very opinion, with some excited by the news and others taking it as an opportunity to dunk on the original.
In response to one X post on the seeming color grading change, a comment reads, “You mean it actually HAS colour,” and another says, “WHY WAS IT SO GREY TO START!??????? IT LOOKS SO FREAKING GOOD NOW.” Yet another X post discussing the apparent change is flooded with similar comments, such as one that says, “Looks much more detailed I like it,” and another, slightly more critical comment stating, “Honestly makes the OG look like an absolute disgrace.” There’s also plenty of speculation that this color difference may actually have an even greater meaning, potentially signaling that Doomsday will share this more saturated color. That remains to be seen, although it is fascinating and genuinely shocking that, as of right now, Encore seems to be getting a rather warm reception.
