“Avengers: Endgame Encore” delivered a major box-office boost, proving audiences were eager to experience the film on the big screen once again — including the moment Falcon (Anthony Mackie) declares, “On your left.” Marvel Studios also offered fans several post-credits scenes designed to set the stage for “Avengers: Doomsday,” which is scheduled to arrive on December 18. The most significant sequence centers on the Time Variance Authority. For a complete breakdown, watch Looper’s video above.
The TVA first appeared in “Loki” as a powerful agency tasked with monitoring the timelines. Initially, its agents pruned unauthorized branches to protect the Sacred Timeline. By the end of “Loki” Season 2, however, the organization’s purpose had shifted toward safeguarding every timeline across the multiverse. That new mission makes the post-credits scene especially alarming. Mobius (Owen Wilson), Ouroboros (Ke Huy Quan) and Casey (Eugene Cordero) witness two universes crashing into one another in an event known as an incursion. The worlds involved are Earth-10005, the designation for 20th Century Fox’s X-Men universe, and Earth-1127, which has not yet received a confirmed designation.
The danger goes beyond the realities simply colliding: the two universes are also launching attacks against each other. That conflict may explain why the X-Men world shown in the “Avengers: Doomsday” trailers appears so desolate. Much of the universe may already have been wiped out. Mobius initially seems unfazed, but the situation escalates rapidly when incursions begin affecting 3,000 worlds. Ouroboros sums up the threat in stark terms: “The multiverse is collapsing.”
FIND OUT MORE: Strictly Pro Breaks Silence After Host Quits Social Media: ‘Need to Take It’
How the TVA scene sets up Avengers: Doomsday
Marvel Studios
The TVA scene also contains several clues in the background. Screens indicate that some realities have already been destroyed, including Earth-400083, the universe associated with the 2003 “Hulk” film. Earth-15866 has apparently been lost as well; that world was home to the 2015 “Fantastic Four” movie. Earth-82111, the reality tied to Captain Carter from the “What If…?” series, is also listed among the destroyed universes.
The reference to 3,000 Earths facing incursions may carry an additional meaning. In “Avengers: Endgame,” Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) tells his daughter, “I love you 3,000.” That connection supports speculation that Doctor Doom, also played by Downey, could be a variant of Stark. The number may have particular importance to Doom, especially if multiversal interference has cost him a child.
Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an incursion happens when the barrier separating two realities begins to break down. Excessive travel between universes or interference with the timeline can trigger the phenomenon. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) may have contributed to that instability when he chose to remain in the past with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) at the end of “Endgame.” Another “Encore” post-credits scene shows Loki (Tom Hiddleston) visiting Steve and Peggy, raising the possibility that he has arrived to warn them about the consequences of their decision.
The central mystery is whether Doctor Doom is orchestrating the incursions or whether Steve’s actions unintentionally set them in motion. Regardless, Doom appears determined to punish those who have tampered with the timeline and reshape reality according to his own vision. The X-Men universe is not disappearing just yet, though, so watch Looper’s video above for a closer look at Marvel’s increasingly complicated multiverse.