Why Avengers: Endgame Doesn't Need a Post-Credits Scene

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Avengers: Endgame Doesn't Need a Post-Credits Scene

By Ian Cardona

Published Apr 4, 2019

With the release of Avengers: Endgame growing ever closer, we examine why the highly anticipated film doesn't need an after-credits scene.

For the last 10 years, Marvel has conditioned fans to sit through the credits of its various films to see bonus scenes that fulfill various purposes. While some were used simply as one-off jokes, others were used to further cross-pollinate the Marvel Cinematic Universe or to set up sequels and spinoffs. From 2008's Iron Man to 2019's Captain Marvel, Marvel's films have featured anywhere from one to five post-credits scene.

However, now that Avengers: Endgame is almost upon us, the question needs to be asked: Does this film actually need an after-credits scene? The simple answer is no, it doesn't. Not really.

Avengers: Endgame is not just the highly anticipated sequel to Avengers: Infinity War, it's being billed as the conclusion to a storyline that began all the way back in the first Iron Man film. It will cap off 21 films, spanning 11 years. While we know that the MCU will continue beyond this movie, it's still being marketed as the end of an era. It's the final chapter in Marvel's Phase Three, and the ending to the sprawling Infinity Saga that began when Tony Stark first suited up as the Armored Avenger.

While next to nothing about the film itself is known yet, it's assumed that the movie will be the final vehicle for many of the original six Avengers. The Endgame trailers, as well as its secretive marketing, seems to make it clear: This will be an emotional film that will wreck fans. The stakes are high and it sure looks like not everyone will be walking away from this fight. Whether characters make the ultimate sacrifice or hang up their super-suits, Endgame will deliver plenty of goodbyes.

We already expect the film will deliver a massive emotional wallop that is sure to leave fans shattered when the credits finally come. For that reason, with so much on the line and so many emotions at play, there is simply no need for Endgame to offer any bonus scenes. The movie will speak for itself, and fans should be allowed to fully assimilate this momentous ending without having anything else to look forward to. This will not be the time for a silly joke, nor will it be the time to plant the seeds for the next film in line, Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Instead, fans should be allowed to process the Endgame denouement, the conclusion to a story they have followed for the past 11 years. Essentially, this movie is an ending, plain and simple. We don't need it to point to something else. Once the credits come, we imagine there will be a lot of emotions to process, and we don't need to toss them to the side to hype up the future.

This isn't to say that we don't want to see an after-credits scene in Endgame. We would still welcome it, and we have faith that Marvel would pull it off. It's just that, when it comes down to it, Endgame may ultimately be the only MCU movie that will not require an after-credits scene.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau and Bradley Cooper, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Josh Brolin. The film arrives April 26.