What begin a decade ago with an unexpected visit by Nick Fury to Tony Stark's home has grown to become a defining, and uniting, element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More than that, however, the post-credits scene has rapidly developed into a staple of modern superhero movies, much to the chagrin of Logan director James Mangold. Nevertheless, those sequences, and their mid-credits siblings, are now expected, and anticipated, by audiences, so much so that many have long wondered how many Avengers: Infinity War might have.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo conceded they considered not including a post-credits scene, which certainly would have further set Infinity War apart from all of those that came before it, they largely sidestepped the question in the promotional whirlwind leading up to release. They instead pointed to their open letter released earlier this month, in which they ask fans to not spoil the experience for those who haven't seen the film. "We wrote a letter begging the fans not to spoil the movie for each other," Joe Russo explained in a recent interview, "so we don't want to spoil it for them."

Avengers: Infinity War's Post-Credits Scene, Explained

 

Although 2008's Iron Man began Marvel's practice of stingers, it wasn't really until The Avengers in 2012 that the studio's approach was cemented, with both a mid-credits and post-credits sequence, sometimes with one assuming a lighthearted tone while the other tees up a future release. However, James Gunn to the ends-credits scenes to new heights last year with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which closed out the sequel five such sequences (there was a sixth one that didn't make the final cut).

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With all of that in mind, just how many post-credits scenes does Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War have? Just one, actually. We won't spoil it here, but as you might expect from the universe shattering stakes of the highly anticipated sequel, it isn't played for laughs. So, no shawarma or adorably dancing Groots will be found here. Likewise, as the Russo brothers have already said, it doesn't reveal the actual title for Avenger 4, which apparently won't be announced for "quite a long while."

Instead, the sequence connects to a future Marvel Studios release, and ... well, we'll just leave it at that.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston and Josh Brolin, among others. The film opens Friday worldwide.

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