The September theatrical return of Avengers: Endgame will do far more than trigger nostalgia. Director Joe Russo confirmed at the Sands Film Festival in St Andrews, Scotland on Saturday that the re-release — hitting screens September 25 — will contain entirely new footage set within the Avengers: Doomsday story, turning a classic into a deliberate narrative bridge to December’s most anticipated blockbuster.
“It’s critically important to re-release the movie, and, in fact, we’ll be re-releasing the film with footage that is set in the Doomsday story that we have added to Avengers: Endgame,” Russo told a packed crowd via Zoom link from the United States. “It’s an opportunity to create a bridge from Endgame to Doomsday in a very unique way.”
Russo called the re-release a “critical companion story” and “a setup for what you’re gonna watch in December when you see Avengers: Doomsday.” Disney had announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier in the week that the re-release would include previously unseen material, but gave no indication of what it would contain or how it would connect to the upcoming film.
The strategy marks an evolution from the 2019 re-release of Endgame, which added only unfinished deleted scenes. This time, the additional material consists of fully finished new content, and Russo’s comments make clear it functions as story setup, a calculated way to reactivate the audience most invested in these characters before Doomsday opens December 18.
Russo also offered the fullest account yet of how Robert Downey Jr. ended up back inside the Marvel universe as the villain Doctor Doom. “Downey started contemplating his return about two years ago, maybe two and a half years ago,” Russo said. “I was at dinner with him in New York, and he had mentioned to me that he was thinking about this, and the concept was for him to play the ultimate villain. He played the ultimate hero, and now he’s going to play the ultimate villain. I thought it was a very clever idea.” The story structure did not fully lock until the Russos reconnected with longtime collaborator and screenwriter Stephen McFeely.
Avengers: Doomsday opens the same day as Dune: Part III, a collision that could produce one of the largest collective box-office weekends in history. Endgame remains the second-highest-grossing film ever made with $2.799 billion worldwide, and the Russos are betting its re-release can prime audiences for a new chapter built on the foundation of that record.
