Avengers Endgame Encore and The End of the Summer 2026 Anime Season

My wife and I watched a late-night screening of Avengers Endgame Encore, and it was still a fun watch. There is a little over four minutes of new footage, and most of it is at the end of the movie. Spoiler warning, but I’m going to have to discuss this new footage. The ending has been expanded where Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter are dancing in their home, but then, the doorbell rings, and it is Loki. It should be strongly assumed that this is the Loki who works for the Time Variance Authority (TVA) that was introduced in the Loki TV series. There is a mid-credits scene that focuses on Bruce Banner, who has voluntarily imprisoned himself in an impenetrable area. This is clearly the Bruce Banner after the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, mentioning that he went out of control. Victor von Doom voice is heard and tells him "I'm here to collect you" before they vanish. In the post-credits, we see Doctor Doom hammering and making his own mask. Marvel had to scramble since they were building to Kang The Conqueror played by Jonathan Majors. After the controversies with Majors, they decided to scrap his character and pivoted to Doctor Doom as the new big bad for the next Avengers movie. Understandably, they could only do so much to build this character, who was first introduced to the MCU in the post-credits of the Fantastic Four movie when he abducts Franklin Richards. Disney is putting a lot of money into Avengers: Doomsday with the immense cast that they employed, and they don’t come cheap. I expect some time-travel and multi-verse shenanigans, and I have to wonder how they will implement so many characters. I have to admit that I am interested, and my wife and I will watch Avengers: Doomsday within the first week or so of the movie coming out.

The final episodes of many anime series from this summer ended recently. Quite honestly, I have got to watch less of the “trash” and “mid” anime, but it is honestly difficult for me. I am rather easy to please and entertain, and especially for the fantasy genre, I tend to watch what I can considering that anime is a huge influence for my own fantasy writing. Some sequels of standout shows like Mushoku Tensei, Saga of Tanya the Evil, Re: Reincarnated as a Slime and Iruma-Kun, Clevatess, Country Bumpkin came out this season, among other sequels. Some of the standout series that were not sequels this season for me were: Though I Am an Inept Villainess, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, and Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games. I watched a lot of other series, and some were good, solid series, and others were “mid” at best. One series in particular: A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even, got me in a few online debates as the main character’s goal is to get revenge on the kingdom that betrayed her, and there are scenes of children and their mothers getting killed. It was surprising to see the different reactions ranging from how they deserved it to calling it pure evil. It looks like this amount of volume and quality is going to be more of the norm going forward every anime season, and I should be much more selective with what I watch.