Mid-credits and post-credits scenes have been used in various Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media, since the beginning of the franchise with the 2008 film Iron Man. The use of such scenes as a whole has changed movie-goer expectations, and has received both praise and criticism. Individual scenes have been widely discussed, ranked, and criticized.[1][2][3][4] In some cases, MCU films have multiple mid-credits and post-credits scenes, and MCU television series have employed them after some episodes.
The first post-credits scene involving Marvel Comics characters occurred prior to the MCU, in the 2003 film Daredevil, showing the previously defeated villain Bullseye in a hospital bed, managing to impale a fly with a syringe.[5] Another noted pre-MCU post-credits scene was in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, showing Charles Xavier / Professor X to be alive after his apparent death by the hands of the Phoenix earlier in the film. This has been described as "Marvel's first post-credit scene".[6] The MCU's first credits scene involved Nick Fury visiting Tony Stark to discuss the Avengers Initiative. On the decision to include Fury, Kevin Feige said, "We wanted Nick Fury to be the character to intertwine characters, but we didn't want to interrupt the movie."[7] Since then, the MCU has made extensive use of mid- and post-credit scenes (often both) which typically serve as a teaser for a future Marvel Studios film. For example, the post-credits scene of Iron Man 2 (2010) shows S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson locating a large hammer at the bottom of a crater in a New Mexico desert, thus teasing the release of Thor the following year; while the post-credits sequence of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) introduces the characters of Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, who join the franchise in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Other times, these mid- and post-credits scenes serve primarily as gags, such as the post-credits scene in The Avengers (2012), which has the team eating shawarma in a derelict restaurant in the aftermath of the film's climactic battle, or Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), which features Captain America educating the audience on patience.[8][9]
The Incredible Hulk (2008) does not include a proper post-credits scene; however, its final scene, in which Tony Stark approaches Thaddeus Ross in a bar, is often treated as one.[1][2][3] Avengers: Endgame (2019) also does not feature a post-credits scene, instead having the credits end with the sound of clanging metal first heard in Iron Man.[10] In addition to such scenes attached to films, the MCU has had post-credit scenes in most MCU television series, generally after the final episode of the series. The ubiquity of post-credit scenes in MCU properties was such that the producers of the television special Werewolf by Night (2022) felt the need to defend the absence of such a scene, noting that the final scene of the show itself had a feeling much like a typical post-credits scene, and that the characters were left not knowing what the future will bring.[11] The post-credit scene for the MCU television series Hawkeye (2021)'s finale, "So This Is Christmas?", features the cast of the fictional Rogers: The Musical performing the number, "Save the City", first seen in a shorter form in the premiere episode,[12] with the full version being over four minutes long.[13] The scene was received with sharply divided opinions by fans, as it did not advance any MCU storyline.[14][15] Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and the television series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) are the projects with the largest number of post-credit scenes, featuring five, with She-Hulk including them in the first four episodes and the final episode.[16][17]
VarietyMay2022
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).CNetSeptember2021
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).TimeJuly2022
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).CBRDecember2021
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).BI-Post-2022
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).ScreenRantJune2022
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).FeigeEWApr2018
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).ColliderCreditScenes
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).GamesRadarCreditScenes
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).EndgameNoCreditScene
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).WBNNoScene
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).HawkeyeEp1Musical
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).HawkeyeEp6
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).SRHawkeyeCreditScene
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).HawkeyeCreditSceneDivide
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).GotGVol2CreditScenes
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).SheHulkCreditScenes
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search