WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, in theaters now.
As fans were left reeling from Avengers: Endgame's emotional ending, most stayed seated throughout the film's credits to see the customary after-credits scene. After all, these stingers have been featured in every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, starting with 2008's Iron Man, and they have become a signature often used to set up a sequel, or another franchise altogether. For that reason, fans were anxious to see what Marvel's next storyline would be now that the Infinity Saga has come to an end.
However, fans surprised to discover that, after 22 films, Endgame was the first to forego Marvel's after-credits tradition.
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"It was never in the cards," Joe Russo explained in an interview with USA Today. "It was called 'Endgame' for a reason. This is it. This is the ending. The book is closed on that chapter of the Marvel universe and a new book will get written."
"This was the first Marvel movie we've done where we weren't thinking about the future," Anthony added, saying it was a "great thrill" not to have to set up the future of the MCU. "There's no future. There will be a future, of course, but it's not our responsibility."
The directors then addressed what was featured following the Endgame credits: the sound of Tony Stark's clanging, as he built his Mark 1 armor in the first Iron Man movie. Clarifying that this wasn's a tease for the next Iron Man, Anthony noted this was meant to be an "an echo of the past."
"It's really just an homage, sort of a little bookend," Joe added. "It started it and it ends it."
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos.