Everyone's Forgotten The Real Hero Of Avengers: Endgame (But Encore Will Remind Them)

Published Aug 30, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Liz Declan is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant, primarily covering movies. She is a massive fan of Star Wars, the MCU, and Supernatural. In addition to writing, Liz loves attending and covering conventions and interviewing actors. Find her on TikTok and Instagram @va.va.vera

As Marvel fans are gearing up for the release of Avengers: Doomsday this December, the MCU is putting out one more theatrical release that is seemingly increasingly important. Namely, Avengers: Endgame is getting its very own theatrical re-release, titled Avengers: Endgame Encore. However, this isn't just the movie returning to theaters before a new installment is added to the franchise, as is the case for the Hunger Games movies, for example. Rather, Endgame Encore will reportedly feature brand-new footage from the movie that will connect more directly with Doomsday.

What this new footage will entail is a mystery, and it's one that many MCU fans certainly want to know. Encore is also rumored to only include four additional minutes of runtime, which has added to the mysteriousness of the release. Unless Encore will be removing scenes to make space for new ones (which is possible but feels unlikely), four minutes of additional footage isn't actually all that much. In fact, it seems like it can't be much more than an extra scene or two or extended versions of scenes that were already in the original cut of the movie.

How exactly adjustments of that scale will translate to Endgame and Doomsday feeling more cohesive remains unknown, although there are plenty of fan rumors about Encore that suggest scenes depicting Tony Stark and/or Doctor Doom setting up why exactly Doom is being played by Robert Downey Jr. Others suspect that the additional footage will have something to do with Steve Rogers' return in Doomsday; it could be either, both, or neither. What is almost certain, however, is that one scene from the original cut of Endgame will remain and remind audiences just how heroic one random, unnamed character was.

One Rat Was The Reason Everyone In Avengers: Endgame Was Saved

There were, obviously, countless heroes throughout Endgame. Hulk was a hero for offering to do the first snap of the movie to bring everyone back. Tony was a hero for sacrificing his life in the end to destroy Thanos and his army. All of the Avengers who went back in time and gambled with both their lives and their futures were likewise heroes. And, of course, everyone who fought in that massive final battle (on the side of the Avengers, that is) was likewise a hero of the movie.

Yet, in the midst of all of those obvious heroes, there was one creature upon which this entire movie hinged, and that was an unnamed rat. As silly as it sounds, this is actually 100% true, as it was a rat who scuttled across Scott Lang's van, inadvertently finally bringing him back from the Quantum Realm, where he had been stuck since the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Specifically, Scott had entered the Quantum Realm with Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne, and Janet Van Dyne theoretically monitoring him on the other side.

Unfortunately for Scott, he was unlucky enough that Hank, Hope, and Janet all disappeared following Thanos' snap, leaving him entirely trapped. Had that rat never walked across the van, Scott almost certainly never would have returned (and he definitely wouldn't have done so nearly as quickly). Given that Scott's return was the catalyst for the remaining Avengers to realize that time travel was possible and they could undo what had been done, it's not a stretch whatsoever to say this rat is the reason everyone returned and defeated Thanos.

Endgame Encore Has So Much To Reveal To Audiences

With Endgame Encore, audiences will remember that it was random luck and the accidental work of this rat that made it possible for everyone to be brought back, but that is undoubtedly among the smallest things this new theatrical release will offer. As mentioned, there is plenty of speculation that this new cut of Endgame will be the reason that Steve Rogers' return and Robert Downey Jr.'s role as Doctor Doom will finally make sense, and while that remains purely speculative for now, that does seem the most likely.

Granted, there is also a fair bit of understandable concern within the fanbase regarding the idea that the MCU needed this re-released version of Endgame in order for the events of Doomsday to make sense. That certainly doesn't suggest the same level of cohesion, planning, and forethought that seemed to go into the Infinity Saga, and fans are rightfully wary of what that might mean narratively.

However, giving the MCU the benefit of the doubt, as it has arguably earned, the rumored additional four minutes of runtime don't suggest a massive overhaul of the original version of the movie. Perhaps these additions are just enough to make Avengers: Endgame the perfect jumping off point for this exciting new installment—and, at the very least, everyone will be reminded just how much we all owe this rat.

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  Tony Stark / Iron Man

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  Steve Rogers / Captain America