On September 25, 2026, Marvel Studios brought Avengers: Endgame back to theaters across the globe with a re-release titled Avengers: Endgame Encore. The re-release featured up to 4 credits sequences (depending on where fans selected to view the film) and was described by Marvel Studios as “must see” footage before seeing Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026, as the additional scenes in Endgame: Encore were to serve as bridge from Endgame to Doomsday.
The 4th additional scene catches viewers up to date on the status of the TVA (Time Variance Authority).
The TVA will be central to the story told in Avengers: Doomsday even if it is more or less taking place in the background. The TVA were formally introduced in 2021’s Loki series on Disney+; established early on as an organization founded by the mysterious Timekeepers (who came together following a vast Multiversal War) to oversee the Multiverse and protect and preserve “The Sacred Timeline”; a Timeline that they created that existed as a predetermined Flow of Time in order to ensure that another Multiversal War never came to be.
The 1st Episode of Loki: Season One revealed that when the version of Loki that was created as a Temporal Duplicate during the Avengers’ Time Heist escaped from Avengers custody with the Tesseract, landing upon a Branched Timeline in the Gobi Desert where he was confronted by members of the TVA and arrested directly by Hunter B-15 for “Crimes Against the Sacred Timeline.”
Loki was taken to TVA Headquarters and the Branched Timeline that he spawned was pruned (purged).
At TVA Headquarters, Loki (labeled as “Loki Variant L1130″) underwent a number of confusing and outright uncomfortable series of events en route to standing in front of a TVA judge (Ravonna Renslayer) where a TVA Agent known as “Mobius” requested that Loki be spared and turned over to him to help work a case that involved another Loki Variant, who’d been massacring TVA Agents at various points of time. That Variant turned out to be a female version of Loki who called herself “Sylvie.” Being born a “Loki” resulted in her TVA arrest, but she managed to escape custody and flee into the Multiverse, taking shelter in various apocalypses where her Temporal Aura would not be detected.
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In the meantime, Loki Variant L1130 meticulously worked to create his own narrative, deceptively trying to outwit Mobius and the other TVA Agents working the case. In short order, Loki figured out that his Variant was hiding out in apocalypses and this led him right to her proverbial doorstep. “Sylvie” revealed herself to Loki (L1130) before setting off a series of Time Bombs intended to eradicate a host of Branched Timelines in order to distract the TVA so that she could infiltrate TVA Headquarters and kill the Timekeepers. Loki and Sylvie ended up embarking upon their own Journey into Mystery and became quite fond of each other in a romantic way before being taken into TVA custody yet again.
Separated, Loki and Sylvie were back at TVA Headquarters. Feeling betrayed, Mobius subjected Loki to a Time Loop while Sylvie awaited interrogation. The Time Loop managed to humble Loki, while Sylvie made B-15 second-guess the Dogma she’d been fed. Soon, Mobius and B-15 rebelled against the Dogma, with B-15 helping Loki and Sylvie overthrow the Timekeepers.
As it turned out, the Timekeepers were mere robots, designed to instill order and fear. There was something; someone else behind the Dogma of the TVA.
Loki Variant L1130 was soon thereafter pruned, after which he discovered that he was transported to the Void at the End of Time where he encountered several Multiversal Variants of himself. Sylvie landed in the Void as well after self-pruning and Loki and Sylvie decided to work together to conquer Alioth, with an inspiring assist from the Loki Variant known as “Classic Loki” (portrayed by Richard E. Grant). From there, Loki and Sylvie made their way to the Citadel at the End of Time where they encountered the enigmatic entity known as “He Who Remains.”
He Who Remains was a Variant of the time traveling and warmongering Kang and a lingering remnant of the Multiversal War. He was also the man that created the TVA and its Dogma. He was furthermore the man that created the Sacred Timeline, carefully stringing together a series of Universes that he personally approved and that were policed by the TVA in order to ensure that none of the Timelines would Branch in such a way that they spawned another Variant of Kang. HWR insisted that his time traveling Variants were the greatest threat to Multiversal peace and because of that, the Sacred Timeline needed to be kept in check. On top of all that, HWR mocked the idea of free will, informing Loki and Sylvie that none of their decisions were ever theirs, for He Who Remains had written the script that was their lives, carefully maneuvering them throughout time so that they would arrive at the Citadel and stand right where they were standing.
Why Loki and Sylvie?” Because HWR wanted them to take over the TVA so HWR could retire.
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The words of He Who Remains were eerily haunting. “You came to kill the Devil, right? Well guess what? I keep you safe. And if you think I’m evil, well, just wait till you meet my Variants … You may hate the dictator, but something … far worse is gonna fill that void if you depose of him. I’ve lived a million lifetimes. I’ve gone through every, every scenario. The TVA works. This the only way.
While Sylvie was more than ever longing to kill the man behind the TVA and its machinations, Loki took pause and considered the ramifications of killing HWR if what he was saying was true. This infuriated Sylvie and a fight broke out between she and Loki. While an excited He Who Remains looked on, Sylvie gave Loki a kiss and then kicked Loki through a Time Door before burying her dagger into the chest of He Who Remains, killing him.
Meanwhile, Loki discovered that he’d landed in the past of the TVA, and his dear friend Mobius didn’t even know him. Loki desperately tried to get the TVA Agents to hear out his concerns, but he also started “Time-Slipping.” This took him to various points in time in an instant, but he eventually figured out how to control the slips.
Meanwhile, the Multiverse was beginning to wither due to a malfunction of the Temporal Loom due to an overload because the Multiverse was expanding infinitely. He Who Remains had furthermore installed a fail-safe in order to ensure that the Sacred Timeline would be reset and begin again in the event that he died. This brought Loki right back to He Who Remains, who dared Loki to venture back to his fight with Sylvie and kill her so that Reality could be saved. Loki refused to make that choice however, opting to ensure the destruction of the Temporal Loom in an effort to end the Sacred Timeline’s loop.
Once there, countless Universes began to wither away until Loki began to take hold of them and use his magic to restore them and finally pulling them together and taking a seat at the End of Time, revered as the God of Stories.
While heroic, Loki’s actions may have helped spawn Incursions, and what we see in the Encore footage is countless Universes being terminated due to Incursions (3,000 is directly mentioned at one point). It quickly became horrifically evident that the Multiverse was dying.
What part does Loki play in all of this? Time will tell.
I think what Marvel Studios did with Encore will allow Doomsday to get right to it without a ton of exposition.
In a nutshell, this is what we know: Steve Rogers created a Branched Timeline when he decided to venture the past to be with the love of his life and was transported to a different Timeline by Lok Variant L1130. There, Steve and Peggy Carter had a son. Bruce Banner was whisked away by Doctor Doom sometime after the events that played out in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it may be safe to assume that The Hulk isn’t the only hero that this has happened to. There are some neat parallels between the late Tony Stark and Victor Von Doom. And the Multiverse is dying due to endless Incursions. Members of The Avengers, The X-Men, and The Fantastic Four will fight and team-up to stand against Doom in an effort to save their respective Realities.
December 18, 2026, can’t get here fast enough! I cannot wait to see this movie!
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