'Avengers: Endgame' returns to Vietnam cinemas with new footage ahead of 'Doomsday'

The re-release, titled Avengers Endgame: Encore, will also roll out in North America and several other markets worldwide.

The original 2019 film ran for 181 minutes, while the new edition clocks in at 185 minutes. The additional four minutes are expected to help connect Endgame with Doomsday, which is scheduled to hit theaters on December 18.

Director Joe Russo has said the new Endgame material was filmed during production of Avengers: Doomsday, making the re-release more than a simple return of the 2019 blockbuster.

Coming less than three months before Doomsday, the re-release is widely seen as part of Marvel’s effort to rebuild momentum around the Avengers franchise and bring audiences back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

It could also serve as a test of how much enthusiasm remains for Marvel’s superhero films after several years in which the genre has struggled to match the extraordinary popularity it enjoyed around the time of Endgame.

The re-release also comes with a box-office subplot.

Avengers: Endgame grossed about US$2.799 billion worldwide after its 2019 release, briefly overtaking James Cameron’s Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time.

Avatar later reclaimed the crown and currently stands at about $2.92 billion worldwide, while Endgame remains one of the highest-grossing films in cinema history.

In Vietnam, Endgame earned around VND280 billion ($10.6 million at current exchange rates) during its original theatrical run.

Whether another release can significantly close the global gap with Avatar remains uncertain, but Marvel may have a bigger objective than box-office rankings.

The studio is preparing for the release of Avengers: Doomsday, which will mark the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU.

This time, however, Downey will not reprise Tony Stark, the role that defined much of Marvel’s first major cinematic era. He will instead appear as Doctor Doom.

That leaves one of the biggest questions surrounding the next Avengers installment: how will Doomsday connect the world left behind by Endgame with Marvel’s newer characters and its expanding multiverse?

The four additional minutes in Avengers Endgame: Encore may offer audiences their first clues.