Avengers: Endgame Encore secretly teased where Tom Holland's Peter Parker went after Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This summer's wall-crawler blockbuster took Peter Parker on an emotional journey, from being all alone for four years and dedicating his life to heroism to reconnecting with his loved ones and his true self. While Brand New Day ended on a rather hopeful note, as his best friend Ned Leeds seemed to finally remember him, the post-credits scene hinted that Spidey is off to space to join Earth's Mightiest Heroes in their next battle.
The mid-credits stinger of Avengers: Endgame Encore marks the first since Spider-Man: Brand New Day's intergalactic tease. The re-release stinger focuses on Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner, who has put himself into "self-containment" underground since his gamma rage-out in Brand New Day, but that isn't the end of Endgame Encore's connections to the record-breaking summer blockbuster.
While Banner attempts to explain to the camera the "gamma suppression serum" he has been working on in his voluntary solitude, both the camera the audience is watching through and the screens around him begin to glitch. The screens stutter, lights flicker, and the camera glitches into colorful pixels as Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom arrives to "collect" the Jade Giant.
Of course, the Endgame Encore scene has major implications for Hulk and his purpose in the next Avengers blockbusters, but there is also a hidden connection to Brand New Day that may be troubling for Spider-Man.
Brand New Day's lone post-credits scene was a letdown for many fans, as there was no Incursion cascading to Earth-616, no Doctor Doom tease, and no cameo from Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man. Instead, Marvel Studios honed in on Ned Leeds' Spidey Tracker app to tease Peter Parker's next adventure.
The map (which shows Spidey sightings in New York) zoomed all the way out from Earth, revealing that Spider-Man is heading into space. Fans instantly began to theorize whether he had been recruited by the TVA to help save the Multiverse, or perhaps if he was heading to Battleworld, but one key detail went overlooked.
As the map scrolls across the pixelated darkness of space, the Spidey Tracker app glitches and stutters multiple times, similar to Banner's tech in Endgame Encore. In the case of the Avengers re-release, the glitching presumably happened due to Doctor Doom's magic and its unique ability to interact with technology, something that will soon plague the Fox X-Men when he revives an army of Sentinels.
The similar glitching in back-to-back post-credits scenes is likely no coincidence, and could be a sign that Spidey has also been collected by Doctor Doom off-screen after Brand New Day, although his exact motivation is tough to pin down.
The Russo Brothers themselves have offered further insight into the new scenes added into Avengers Endgame: Encore that further support this theory that Doom might have collected our Peter Parker.
In a new interview with Empire, when asked about the Encore scene of Doom "collecting" Hulk, Joe Russo didn't offer much, but did say that Doom's "interest may extend beyond just Banner":
I mean, look, his interest may extend beyond just Banner. So, that's what we'll say about that.
Why Doctor Doom May Have Collected Spider-Man Before Avengers: Doomsday
Bruce Banner isn't just the Hulk, one of the most terrifyingly powerful monsters on Earth-616; he is also among the smartest people alive, making him a valuable asset to Doctor Doom. There's no denying that Peter Parker is also a genius, and his spidery powers are formidable, but it's tough to imagine him bringing anything new to the table that Doom and his allies can't already pull off.
Deadpool & Wolverine introduced the concept of anchor beings to the MCU; these beings effectively hold their universe together, and their deaths trigger its decay. Many have theorized that Holland's Peter 1 is the anchor being for Earth-616, which may give him some unique purpose in Doctor Doom's plans.
Perhaps Doom somehow requires powerful beings from across the Multiverse to pull off his final spell in Avengers 5 that will stitch the remnants of reality back together like a patchwork quilt known as Battleworld. Alternatively, he may be plotting to control these heroes and turn them against their allies in the climactic battle, leading to secret cameos from unexpected, but familiar heroes.
From a logistical standpoint, it makes sense to take Spidey off the table, as filming conflicts between Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday mean that Tom Holland isn't expected to return in the Phase 6 blockbuster. Instead, Marvel Studios is reportedly saving Holland for Secret Wars, and the same may be true for Banner and anybody else Doom has collected.
In terms of who else may be locked up in Doom's basement, Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange have been heavily rumored and theorized to be allied with the magical villain. Doom may even have collected Scarlet Witch from a near-death experience atop Mount Wundagore, thus explaining her four-year MCU absence before she reportedly returns in Doomsday.
There is always the possibility that Doom isn't the one who took Spider-Man, and that the glitching is a coincidence or a general effect of Multiversal interference. If so, the TVA is also a logical choice to have scooped up the web-slinger, as it recruits certain heroes to be the Multiverse's last hope against Doom.
