Re-Watching ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Is “Required” to Understand ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ Joe Russo Says

Avengers: Doomsday director Joe Russo says watching Avengers: Endgame is “required” to understand the upcoming film.

Russo told Fandango that the upcoming Avengers: Endgame Encore — a re-release of the 2019 blockbuster featuring additional footage — is “going to connect the story of the two movies. There’s a natural progression from Endgame into Doomsday, which is also inclusive of all the other stories that have been playing out. But I think it’s important to see Endgame again in theaters for two reasons: One, you’re going to have a lot of fun … and two, I think it’s required viewing for following the story in Doomsday.”

His brother and directing partner Anthony Russo added, “If you saw Endgame when it was originally released, you couldn’t see this coming.”

With its 185 minute runtime, Endgame Encore has roughly four minutes of extra footage and includes a sneak peek at Doomsday. The film will be released on Sept. 25.

Endgame currently stands at $2.79 billion at the global box office, one notch behind the all-time record holder, the 2009 smash Avatar, which has a $2.9 billion lifetime gross. If the Endgame re-release generates enough in ticket sales, it could overthrow Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Doomsday is released Dec. 18 and has already racked up millions in advance ticket sales.

Doomsday returns Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU in a new role, as the villainous Doctor Doom, and has a sprawling cast, ranging from stars of the original 2000s X-Men movies such as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, to original Avengers castmembers such as Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, to Black Panther‘s Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, to more recent MCU additions, such as Shang-Chi‘s Simu Liu and Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn. There’s also Captain America actor Anthony Mackie and Ant-Man star Paul Rudd, in addition to Thunderbolts players Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and David Harbour.