The Marvel Cinematic Universe didn’t invent the post-credit scene, but they definitely popularized it.Since 2008, whenSamuel L. Jacksonas Nick Fury told Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) he was “putting together a team,” Marvel has effectively used these stingers to hint at what’s to come. Audiences were so on board with post-credit scenes, Marvel began doingmid-creditscenes! The protocol became using one scene to set up the next film, and the other as a fun call back to the film people had just watched.While not always perfectly executed, by and large these scenes were a fun part of the experience that made it so fanshadto see the movie opening weekend. But as the MCU has fluctuated in quality post-Avengers: Endgame, so to have the post-credit scenes, withCaptain America: Brave New Worldbeing the latest to disappoint.
‘Brave New World’ Has a Meaningless Post-Credit Scene
To recapthe post-credits sceneinBrave New World: Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) visits, for unclear reasons, the film’s antagonist, Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), the scientist with a brain altered by the Hulk’s blood who subsequently infected Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) with gamma radiation turning him into the Red Hulk. Now in prison, Sterns warns Mackie that he hasanalyzed all the probabilities and that he needs to worry about “the others,“which leaves Wilson in a stunned silence. It is a scene meant to imply the multiverses colliding in the upcomingAvengers: Secret Wars. In theory, this is fine, but in execution, the scene feels as vague as possible and incredibly unsatisfying. How did Marvel screw things up this badly?
The tacked-on scene,shot in one of numerous reshoots, largely fails because it doesn’t give fans anything new or exciting to latch on to in anticipation of the next movies. Prior films and TV series have already laid the groundwork for the multiverse, withDeadpool& Wolverineliterally calling it out (and criticizing it as tired) last summer. This offers no clues about Sam Wilson’s or anyone else’s roles inSecret Wars, any surprise people that might show up,there’s not even anything comic book readers can excitedly explain to their confused friends.It is a scene so unspecific in what it’s promising other thansomething comingthat the internetcould tell you more about what’s next for the MCU than this scene. Remember the Thanos tease inThe Avengers?For those not in the know, it was the alien villain that gave Loki the scepter, telling a menacing purple face that challenging the Avengers would be akin to “courting death,” to which the purple face smiles at the camera.It’s not subtle, but it was simple and intriguing to new fans, and clear to comic book fans what was coming.What happened tothatkind of credit scene?
The MCU Credit Scenes Have Been Disappointing for a While
There have been some fun post-Endgamecredit scenes (Pizza Poppa was certainly appreciated), but overall it’s been a downward trend that reflects the MCU’s lack of direction. In their quest for endless expansion, the MCU’s credit scenes have done little to suggest anything substantial that could stick? Recent scenes haveteased future appearances ofHarry Styles,Kit Harrington,Mahershala Ali,Charlize Theron,Brett Goldstein,Kelsey Grammer,Lashana Lynch, andHaliee Steinfeldthat… might happen. It’s not off the table, but there is a lack of a clear narrative thread anymore. IsBladecoming?Hercules? Young Avengers? The X-Men? All of them? None of them? Part of the joywashaving a sense of what will be out in the next year or two, but now there’s the feeling of just throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. Which leads to the biggest issue: they’re just not fun anymore.
The biggest sign Marvel had lost the handle on how to steer the ship were the credits scenes inAnt-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. One of the scenes tied in toLokiand connected Kang (Jonathan Majors) as a major threat in the future. This was unnecessary since the entirety ofQuantumaniawas characters ominously saying how threatening a threat Kang would be, but it was nice to seeTom HiddlestonandOwen Wilson.The issue was with the other scene, once again establishing the threat of Kang, but this time elevating it due to all of his variants working together. Like the other scene, it’s fine, but one makes the other redundant, and it was Marvel choosing to double down on setting things up instead of making a silly callback.Marvel can make movies however they want, but it would be nice if they were fun. There was a prime opportunity to call back to a joke inQuatumania, Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) job at Baskin-Robbins. The film does one call back, when there are multiples of Scott and one is in his uniform, so why not do another call back? Comedy works on the rule of threes and in the infinite multiverse,wouldn’t it have been great to see the Kang Baskin-Robbins employee variant???
Occasionally, it helps to look at the larger problems with something through the lens of the minutia.The decreasing quality of the post and mid-credits scenes in Marvel’s movies reflects the hazy vision the studio has for the future of their films, but also a failing to remember what worked.The first joke credit scene was a simple call back to Tony Stark mentioning shawarma during the climax ofThe Avengers. For years, Marvel had great control of revealing just enough while still having fun with what was to come. Hopefully they have better ideas forThunderbolts*andThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.It would be so nice if the post-credit scenes were something to look forward to and didn’t feel dreadfully obligatory.
Captain America: Brave New Worldis currently in theaters.
Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World follows Sam Wilson as he steps into his role as the new Captain America. Navigating the complexities of geopolitics, Sam encounters an international incident involving a mysterious global plot. As tensions rise, he must uncover the mastermind behind the scheme to prevent worldwide chaos.
