Avengers: Endgame Encore has brought back the MCU’s 2019 hit for another go, this time with some major changes. Notably, Endgame Encore features several new scenes that set up Avengers: Doomsday, which will hit theaters in only a few months on December 18, 2026. Viewers of the rerelease are still debating which of these additional scenes are best, whether it be Loki’s visit to Steve and Peggy, Doom’s attack on Bruce Banner, or the TVA’s realization that the multiverse is beginning to collapse in front of their very eyes. Plus, dialogue changes and other minor tweaks set up the future of the MCU, making the revised Endgame a unique viewing experience independent from the original release.
However, Endgame Encore‘s best change is likely not noticed unless you’re directly comparing the two releases, with it most likely going under the noses of many viewers who haven’t seen the original cut since 2019. Luckily, it makes the Encore viewing experience superior to the original, and has made many more optimistic for Doomsday.
The poor color grading in modern blockbusters is a topic often discussed by frequent theater-goers, especially when it comes to Marvel movies. While some early Marvel movies utilized beautiful color pallets, things went downhill after Phase 1. Everything began to look grey, causing the rare colorful MCU entry like Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok to stand out so much more.
This color grading issue was especially present in the films directed by the Russos, beginning with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, a muted, grey color palate made sense for this film, as it was a gritty spy thriller. Then, this carried over into the next film, Captain America: Civil War, where the choice was a lot less justified. So, when the Russos were brought on to direct an even bigger Marvel movie, this poor color grading followed them, with it plaguing Avengers: Infinity War and especially Avengers: Endgame.
These color palette issues arise due to a combination of reasons. Firstly, modern digital cinematography combined with a standardized post production timeline incentivizes this. The less specific the colors and lighting during shooting, the more flexibility editors have in post. So, flatter, less colorful images make adding in CGI and visual effects far easier. While the saturation can always be bumped up, ignoring color during production, including in costumes and production design, leads to the film signing onto washed out visuals well before the movie is completed.
Luckily, Avengers: Endgame Encore has attempted to address this. The color grading in the rerelease is much better, and when directly comparing shots from the 2019 and 2026 releases, the difference is clear. The colors pop far more in Encore, giving characters further separation from the background. Everything is more saturaded, and while this doesn’t make Encore‘s coloring perfect, it is a major improvement. Choices during the filming of Endgame could have given the film a stronger visual identity, but based on what Marvel had for Encore, this is about the best that they could have done.
Considering that Marvel Studios gave the color grading a lot of focus in Avengers: Endgame Encore, this is a great sign for how they may be handling Avengers: Doomsday. The altered colors are a sign that the MCU is listening to criticisms of previous entries and addressing them, hopefully returning the franchise to the level of quality that it once had. It wouldn’t make sense for the MCU to fix Encore‘s color grading only to release Doomsday with colors as poor as the 2019 cut, so hopefully this is a sign that the upcoming film will look just as good as the rerelease.
The trailers for Avengers: Doomsday signal that the movie is on the right track, as it already looks like a major improvement on the Russos’ previous Marvel films. While there are still a lot of digital environments, the colors pop a lot more, something that will probably be even more clear when seen on theater screens rather than laptops and phones. This doesn’t mean that Doomsday is guaranteed to be a perfect film, but at the least, Encore is a sign that the MCU is headed in the right direction.
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