Chembur's Sahyadri Krida Mandal has been running its Ganpati pandal for five decades. This year, alongside Bappa, it's got the Avengers.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Chris Evans' Captain America, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool have all found their way into the pandal's theme, according to Filmfare, which shared visuals from the mandal's Instagram page. The report calls it a clean mix, superheroes and Ganpati under one roof, which is either a marketing coincidence or a genuinely clever bit of pandal design depending on how cynical you're feeling this festive season.

The timing isn't accidental. Avengers: Endgame is headed back to Indian screens on September 25 under the title Avengers: Endgame: Encore, and this time it's carrying four extra minutes that Marvel Studios says will work as a narrative bridge to Avengers: Doomsday, due December 18. So a pandal built around the Infinity Saga's biggest names, right before the film that closed that saga gets a theatrical re-run, tracks.

For anyone who needs the refresher: Endgame came out in 2019 and closed out the 22-film run that made up the MCU's first three phases, the one where Thanos snapped and the Avengers spent three hours undoing it. Spider-Man: No Way Home picked up after that, technically wrapping Phase 3 and dragging in a fresh set of characters. Doomsday is the next big swing, kicking off what Marvel's calling its two-part Multiverse Saga finale, with Secret Wars to follow.

Doomsday itself is shaping up to be a genuine ensemble pile-up. Filmfare's report notes it'll bring in the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Wakandans and the New Avengers, all lined up against Victor Von Doom, played by Downey Jr., who's swapping the Iron Man suit for Doctor Doom's mask. That's a lot of previously separate franchises getting shoved into one movie, and December 18 isn't far off.

For now though, the crossover is happening at street level in Chembur, not on a Marvel soundstage. Ganpati pandals compete on scale and spectacle every year, from mythological tableaux to political statements to, apparently, Hollywood cameos. Whether other mandals across Mumbai follow with their own superhero themes before visarjan wraps up remains to be seen.

What's confirmed is the calendar. Endgame: Encore lands in theatres September 25, four new minutes and all. Doomsday follows in December. Between those two dates, expect a lot more Marvel iconography showing up in places nobody was expecting it.