Marvel Says Endgame's New Footage Will Set Up Doomsday. We'll Believe It When We See It.

With the Kang saga scrapped and Phase 4 and 5 left unfinished, Marvel is betting on nostalgia to bring audiences back. The question is whether that's enough.

I was there for Infinity War. I did the one year wait. I was in that theatre for Endgame and it was delivered. That version of Marvel had a plan, and you could feel it in every film building toward something bigger.

So when Marvel announced that Endgame is heading back to theatres on September 25, 2026 with new footage tied to Avengers: Doomsday, my reaction wasn't excitement. It was more of a "let's see what you're actually doing here."

What We Know About the Re-Release

The re-release is confirmed for September 25, giving audiences about two months before Doomsday opens on December 18. It will include new footage and be presented in a new format called Infinity Vision, which Disney is pitching as a premium large format experience for select theatres. The catch is that Infinity Vision only applies to 75 screens across the US, so most people will be watching on a regular screen with some added scenes.

Here's what we don't know yet: whether that new footage is freshly filmed material or previously cut scenes from a film that was already three hours long. That detail matters, and Marvel hasn't said.

The Kang Era That Never Fully Happened

To understand why this re-release feels like a course correction, you have to go back to what Marvel's plan actually was. The Multiverse Saga was supposed to build toward Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Jonathan Majors was being set up as the next Thanos level threat, and his performance in Loki and Quantumania actually worked. The character had weight.

Then Majors' legal situation happened, and instead of recasting the role, which Marvel has done before with Rhodey and Hulk, they scrapped the Kang Dynasty entirely. Doomsday pivoted hard, bringing back Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans and repositioning the film as a direct continuation of Endgame.

I'll say it plainly: they should have recast. The precedent was there. Walking away from years of built storylines because of one casting decision left a lot of dangling threads that fans are still waiting on.

The Spaghetti Problem

And that's really the bigger issue. Phase 4 and 5 felt like Marvel throwing ideas at the wall without a clear destination. New characters were introduced with real potential, Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and then just left floating with unresolved stories. Where are they now? How do they connect to what's coming?

Before, the MCU felt like a machine where every piece mattered. Now it feels like some pieces were just forgotten.

Doomsday leaning directly on Endgame's legacy is Marvel acknowledging, whether they say it out loud or not, that the years between didn't fully land the way they needed to.

So Does the New Footage Actually Matter?

Maybe. If the added scenes genuinely bridge Endgame to Doomsday in a way that makes the upcoming film feel earned, that's interesting. The theory going around is that Steve Rogers staying in the past with Peggy Carter triggered something multiversal that sets up everything in Doomsday. If the new footage explores that, it could reframe a moment fans already love.

But if it's just extended scenes and a marketing push to get audiences back in theatres ahead of a big December release, that's a different conversation.

I want Marvel to have a plan again. I genuinely do. Doomsday has the pieces to be something special if they stick the landing. But one re-release with mystery footage doesn't erase the feeling that the last few years lacked direction.

Show us the plan, Marvel. We're still watching.

Endgame returns to theatres September 25, 2026. Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18, 2026.