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. As of November 2022^[update], the MCU has featured 71 post-credit scenes across 41 properties.

History

The first post-credits scene involving Marvel Comics characters occurred prior to the MCU, in the 2006 film, X-Men: The Last Stand, showing 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".^[5] A different version of Professor X, portrayed by the same actor, later appeared in the MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

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 shows S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 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 introduces the characters of Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, who join the franchise in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Other times these mid- and post-credits scenes serve primarily as gags, such as the post-credits scene in The Avengers, which has the team eating shawarma in a derelict restaurant in the aftermath of the film's climactic battle, or Spider-Man: Homecoming, which features Captain America educating the audience on patience.^[6][7][8]

Avengers: Endgame had no post-credits scene, instead having the credits end with the sound of clanging metal first heard in Iron Man.^[9] In addition to such scenes attached to films, the MCU has had post-credit scenes in most MCU TV 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 MCU's October 2022 Werewolf by Night TV special 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.^[10]

Reception

The MCU has been described as having "made the post-credits scene commonplace",^[11] and as being the media that "uses them to the greatest effect", and having "reset moviegoers' expectations about when a film is actually over".^[12] Post-credit scenes often contain humor,^[11] or Easter eggs referencing matters ranging from the significant to the obscure that would be of interest to fans of the media. Peter Cullen Bryan "examines the interplay within modern superhero blockbusters, which grants the geek a degree of social power: Marvel’s use of the post-credits scene is indicative of the larger process, creating a ritual enacted by fans, who interpret the scene for the uninitiated".^[13] In the MCU, these scenes often "tease future plotlines and characters that will be introduced down the road".^[11]

Post-credit scenes have also often been used in the MCU to highlight new releases that are still forthcoming at the time that the media containing the post-credit scene is released, a practice that has been criticized as detracting from the importance of the films to which the scenes are attached.^[14] Such scenes are also criticized on the grounds that they usurp meaningful film endings with cheap gags; a review in The Guardian stated that "if you can't find a way to incorporate it into the actual movie instead of ruining its afterglow, maybe it wasn't meant to be in there".^[15] A 2022 review in Total Film observed that "[t]he recent wave of Marvel post-credits scenes do not seemingly lead into any known sequel, instead offering a scattergun approach to the future".^[16]

The post-credit scene for the MCU TV series, Hawkeye 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.^[17] At over four minutes, this was the longest post-credits scene of any MCU production to date, and was received with sharply divided opinions by fans, as it did not advance any MCU storyline.^[17] The TV series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law had the largest number of post-credit scenes, including them in the first four episodes and the final episode.^[18]

Scenes

MCU films and TV series

Related

A number of films and TV series not occurring in the MCU, but featuring characters from Marvel Comics, have also had post-credit scenes. In some cases, the relationship between these properties is blurred because the characters have later appeared in the MCU, or because the post-credit scenes themselves implicate events in the MCU.

In X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Professor X is shown to be alive after his apparent death by the hands of the Phoenix earlier in the film. Screen Rant noted that this is one of several significant post-credits scenes that were not followed up on in later films, although a different version of Professor X appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.^[5]

The Marvel Television series The Defenders (2017) ends with a post-credit trailer for the first season of The Punisher. Although Marvel Television series are intended to occur within the MCU, it has been noted that "Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher are functionally not canon in the MCU".^[19]

The Good, the Bart, and the Loki, a Disney+ short featuring The Simpsons and tied into the first season of Loki. features a mid-credits scene of Loki disguised as Moe Szyslak giving patrons at Moe's Tavern free drinks. In two post-credits scenes, Ralph Wiggum as the Hulk smashes Loki similarly to a scene from The Avengers (2012), and Loki stands before Ravonna Renslayer at the Time Variance Authority, where she finds him guilty of his various crimes, such as crossing over to the Simpsons universe.^[20] A review noted that the scene "pokes fun at the MCU post-credits scenes with an extended credits reel that hides a good couple of reference heavy clips".^[20]

In Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Eddie Brock and Venom decide to take a tropical vacation while they ponder their next steps. As Venom tells Brock about the symbiotes' knowledge of other universes, a blinding light transports them from their hotel room to another room where they watch J. Jonah Jameson reveal Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker on television, as depicted in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Similarly, in Morbius (2022), the first mid-credits scene, Adrian Toomes finds himself transported to Sony's Spider-Man Universe, while in the second, Toomes approaches Dr. Michael Morbius, suggesting they should form a team.