Marvel Studios did not exactly popularize the concept of inserting post-credits scenes in almost every MCU film and series, but rather, it grew into a tradition amongst MCU fans in hoisting out who’s a ‘true’ fan of the franchise and who isn’t.
As per tradition, fans wouldn’t immediately leave theaters after the credits start rolling. No, they would stay until after the rolling credits flash a new sequence teasing more information for the next upcoming Marvel movies and series.
In the early days of Marvel, the post-credits scenes usually included Nick Fury in gathering the team of Avengers he aims to be the 'Earth’s Greatest Defenders.'
But now, Marvel’s post-credits scenes have transformed into something greater, especially with the original Avengers team gone off the map. Now, the post-credits scenes serve a different purpose, which this article will be covering.
Generally, What Are Post-Credits For? A Brief Cinematic History
Marvel is quite obviously not the first franchise to ever utilize the idea behind post-credits scenes, but it did flourish the long-standing gimmick behind classic films using post-credits scenes as a means to let their audience take a breather.
Usually, after an hour-long film ends, nobody would ever think of staying behind after the credits start rolling. However, things changed once the 1966 James Bond film, The Silencers came into the picture.
The Dean Martin-led movie was the first movie to have gained popularity over its post-credits scenes, as per Collider, where instead of concluding simply for the ending of its story, we see the ‘James Bond Will Return’ title card on the big screens.
The next film that managed to use post-credits scenes is The Muppets Movie in the 1980s, where the post-movie scene broke the fourth wall by telling audiences to ‘Go Home! Go Home! Bye-bye!’
Over time, the use of post-credits scenes soon turned into comedic relief, most prominent in animated movies such as those under Pixar.
Hilarious outtakes of Woody and the gang in Toy Story 2, Sully and Mike Wazowski’s chaotic mishaps behind-the-scenes from Monsters, Inc., and even in the antics of filming A Bug’s Life, as, well, bugs.
These post-credits scenes also happened to have reached some early Barbie movies like Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper and even Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus.
The hilarious outtakes, though meant to lighten the mood in theaters, and somewhat create an illusion that these animated characters, too, make mistakes in their lines and cues, did not exactly pose prophetic importance in their next upcoming films. And this is where Marvel comes in.
Marvel Post-Credits Scenes: What Do They Mean in the MCU?
It all started with 2008’s Iron Man. Of course, who’d be best to start this movement forward with none other than the first-ever MCU hero to debut on the big screens?
It was all thanks to Kevin Feige, really, for this little observation would bloom into a bigger thing for Marvel to overtake the cinematic experience for MCU fans. And with Iron Man, as the Marvel boss expanded on in a 2018 interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“It occurred to us [while making Iron Man], ‘Well, we don’t have X-Men, we don’t have Fantastic Four, we don’t have Spider-Man, but we have everything else. Even though everything else hadn’t been turned into a big film before, or had the name recognition among non-comic-book readers that other ones did, we had the opportunity to start putting certain heroes in other heroes’ movies, which hadn’t been done before. It’s a bonus of what’s to come.”
With the prominence of Stan Lee’s Marvel comic books, it’s nearly impossible to debut every single superhero and villain on the big screens in a short period of time. What more in introducing each and everyone without taking away the cinematic experience of ‘show, don’t tell’?
Now, starting off with the first Iron Man film, it is clear that Nick Fury had somehow woven the stories of each and every member of the Avengers into one big loop, considering he was on the lookout for who will take the mantle of becoming ‘Earth’s Greatest Defenders.’
It was thanks to Fury’s efforts in appearing before the Avengers in post-credits scenes and the other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that the Avengers team even came to fruition.
And of course, the biggest thanks to this all in kickstarting the franchise is how Marvel Studios capitalized on post-credits scenes to their advantage.
RELATED: Does Secret Invasion Have Post-Credits Scenes?
What To Expect From Marvel Post-Credits Scenes: How The MCU Kept Up Their Tradition Over The Years
The existence of post-credits scenes in the Marvel franchise, as mentioned previously, is one of the many ways to weeding out those who religiously watched the MCU to the brink of knowing that the rolling credits do not mark the end of the film.
Apart from Feige’s attempt to make the entire thing wholly unique to the MCU, in weaving the stories of each film together and in teasing what’s next to come for the franchise, the post-credits scenes brought meaning to when fans and viewers sit back and anticipate the future projects for the Marvel phases.
How Post-Credits Scenes Play Into the Multiverse Saga
Did you know that the term, 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' (MCU) was first coined by Kevin Feige back in a 2010 interview? They had initially referred to the franchise as 'Marvel Cinema Universe', but if we're being honest here, Cinematic has a nicer ring to it.
It was during the time when Feige was being asked about the possibility of Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) eventually joining the MCU, to which Feige responded:
"Listen, I never say never. Anything's possible. If you asked me five years ago, I wouldn't have thought we'd be talking about the Avengers now. For the time being, there's only one place for connective tissue within the Marvel Universe and within this new MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe that we're building and those are in the Marvel Studios movies."
The MCU is no ordinary franchise, considering that each story is deeply intertwined with the fate of what the next chapter will be. Everything has been set up from the beginning, hence, the existence of Marvel Phases.
The Marvel Phases may have been arranged based on the release dates of the aforementioned films, however, each phase indicates the chapter or era of which part of the story you are now in during your binge-watching journey.
Essentially, missing a film or two and their post-credits scenes (even some of the Marvel series) would do you no favor, because each hero and their stories play a role in the ever-growing Multiverse Saga.
How Post-Credits Scenes Make The MCU Unique
Post-credits scenes used to be brushed off as something ‘unnecessary’ to watch, unless it was under the X-Men and Fast & Furious franchises. That’s when the franchises put more depth into it, most evidently, when Marvel did it.
Marvel was the only franchise to have succeeded in fully encapsulating the gravity behind missing a post-credits scene.
See, the post-credits scenes do not only provide the teasers for future installments, but rather, even an introduction that would urge both fans and viewers to continue where the post-film left us off.
That said, this had urged more cinephiles to look through more films over the years in finishing them right after the rolling credits, in hopes of seeing something significant appearing right after that would offer a new insight or a cliffhanger from the masterpieces.
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