The parts that are hard to follow from the film alone, explained with a story summary, a character map and key terms.
Released
2019
Runtime
181 min
Set in
2018-23
WORLD BOX OFFICE#1 all-time worldwide$2,942,186,933#1 among Marvel filmsAs of 2026-11-01 · amount being verified · incl. re-release
Good to know before watchingNo spoilers
It picks up right after Infinity War
Be sure to watch that first.
Lots of scenes from earlier films
Because it involves time travel, you revisit moments from The Avengers, The Dark World, Guardians and more from new angles.
It's three hours long
Taking a break partway is a fine idea.
There's no post-credits scene
Just a sound at the very end.
Character mapSpoilers
Who's who in Avengers: Endgame (2019), with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers at the center: the surviving heroes, and Thanos.
Because of copyright, we can't use stills, posters or any other images of the characters as they appear in the film. All face photos are freely licensed photos of the actors themselves (non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site; people without a photo are shown with initials).
Drag to move, pinch (or scroll on a computer) to zoom. Tap a person to read about them.
Face photos are freely licensed photos of the actors from Wikimedia Commons, cropped to a square and resized. Non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site, and people without a photo are shown with a placeholder (initials).
Thanos snapping his fingers with the stones, wiping out half of all life.
The time heist
The plan to travel through the Quantum Realm into the past and borrow the stones before Thanos got them.
Time travel rules
Changing the past doesn't change your present; it creates a separate branch. So the stones must be returned afterward.
Pym Particles
Hank Pym's size-changing particles, needed to travel to the past and back. There are only a few.
New Asgard
The new town Asgard's survivors built in Norway on Earth.
Confusing parts, explainedSpoilers
Contains spoilers about the ending.
Why doesn't changing the past change the present?
In this film, changing the past creates a new branch of reality. The original present stays the same.
How did Steve end up old?
After returning the stones, he stayed in the past and lived a life with Peggy.
What about Loki escaping with the Tesseract?
The 2012 Loki slipped away in the chaos. His story continues in the series Loki.
What did the vanished people experience for five years?
For them it was an instant. When they came back, five years had passed.
What happens to Thor?
He makes Valkyrie ruler of New Asgard and leaves to travel with the Guardians.
Easy-to-miss details
Who lifts Mjolnir
The hero who barely budged the hammer in Age of Ultron finally lifts it.
"Avengers, assemble"
The famous rallying cry is finally said in full for the first time in the series.
The final sound
At the very end of the credits, you hear the clang of metal being hammered, from the first Iron Man.
Stan Lee's cameo
Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee appears driving a car in a 1970s scene, one of his final film cameos.
The ending and post-creditsSpoilers
After the end credits
There is no post-credits scene; only the sound of Tony hammering his suit plays at the end.
What the 2026 Encore re-release addsSpoilers
From September 2026, the film returned to theaters as Avengers: Endgame – Encore. The story is the same as the 2019 version, but new footage leading into Avengers: Doomsday was added. This summary is based on reports from US trade outlets and others (checked 2026-11-02).
The ending: a knock at the door
In the final scene, Steve, who chose to stay in the past, dances with Peggy. There's a knock, and Loki, in his TVA outfit, says he's there to help them. Most reports describe this as a new ending, but at least one says no new footage was added to the main story, so it may depend on the screening format.
Mid-credits: Banner underground
Bruce Banner, alone in an underground facility, hears Doctor Doom's voice as Doom comes to take him. Reports place it after Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Warnings at the TVA
TVA screens light up with warnings of incursions, Earths from different universes colliding with each other.
The final clang and Doom
The 2019 version ended the credits with no image, just the clang of Tony hammering his first suit. In the Encore, that metal-on-metal sound plays over images of Doom, a big change in what that sound seems to mean.
Differences by format
Reports differ on the length of the new footage (about 4 minutes vs. 5–6). Some say all four scenes were only in IMAX and Infinity Vision screenings, with standard screenings showing two. In Japan, Infinity Vision screenings also had an extra Japan-only featurette of about 3 minutes (Marvel Japan).
On Disney+
The 2019 version is on Disney+. As of November 2, 2026, we couldn't confirm any official announcement about streaming the Encore version.
