Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland)
Photo: Film Frame
©Marvel Studios 2018
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the post-credit scenes have become almost as legendary as the films themselves. Now, we’ll rank the best-of-the-best.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems as if the post-credit scenes have become just as famous as the movies themselves.
There’s a reason for that, actually, and it has to do with the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been structured. Normally, post-credit scenes in movies are just a little bit of a tease for the audience, usually to show what happened after the plot of a film, or, just there to make sure you watch who made the film possible.
With the Marvel post-credit scenes, however, these babies are used to tease the next installment within the Marvel Universe, and Marvel has made the post-credit scenes something that we all sit in the theater to watch before we try to beat the traffic.
After seeing our fair share of the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-credit scenes, we decided to rank the top 15 that shocked us and had us on the edge of our seats, eagerly anticipating the next installment within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, grab some popcorn and something to drink, and enjoy our list of the 15 greatest Marvel Cinematic Universe post-credit scenes, ever.
Photo Credit: Thor/Marvel Studios
15. Loki gets into Erik Selvig’s mind (Thor)
The fourth installment of “Phase One” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor was the third Marvel character introduced after Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.
Thor was a fine addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing in over $449 million in box office sales and delivering some fine critical praise. The post-credit scene from Thor, while good, did leave a bit to be desired.
In the scene, Nick Fury welcomes a new agent to S.H.I.E.L.D., Erik Selvig, whom, I suppose he trusted enough to show him the powerful Tesseract. Selvig is confused as to what it is at first, and after Fury asks him to “investigate further,” Selvig agrees.
Unknowing to Fury, Loki, the two-timing companion of Thor, is in the head of Selvig, who also gains knowledge that S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the possession of the Tesseract. With Loki clearly in command of his mind, he orders Selvig to agree to investigate the Tesseract, and the scene ends there.
It provided some detail into the events of The Avengers, but not much else, which, for some is good, and for others, not much to chew on. Nevertheless, this post-credit scene earns a spot here because it does advance the story of the first Avengers movie, somewhat.
Photo: Avengers: Infinity War/Marvel Studios
14. Thanos wants his Infinity Stones (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
The first Avengers movie was a kick-butt entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I thought that the sequel, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, was a bit of a letdown for me.
Maybe I’m biased against sequels or what, but Age of Ultron, while solid, just didn’t live up to the expectations that the first film laid out. However, it did redeem itself with its short, but detail-rich scene that had audiences on the edge of their seats.
Growing tired of others trying to deliver him the Infinity Stones, Thanos comes to the decision that, if you want to accomplish something, do it yourself, which is exactly what he vows to do in order to obtain the Infinity Stones.
At only 24 seconds long, some may question why this post-credit scene is included on this list. Well, there’s another hidden lesson to be learned here, and it’s that short is informational, and there was a lot for fans to be excited for when Thanos announced that he would get those Stones himself.
We don’t know exactly what else happened after the screen faded to black, but, more than likely, after he made his dark and menacing “I’ll get it myself” speech, he sat back down in the chair for two more years, learning that it will be a lot of work doing it himself.
Photo Credit: Spider-Man Homecoming/Marvel Studios
13. Captain America’s PSA (Spider-Man Homecoming)
When done correctly, breaking the “fourth wall” (talking to the audience) can an entertaining and effective plot device.
Captain America achieved both in his Public Service Announcement following the conclusion of Spider-Man Homecoming.
Instead of getting a grand post-credit scene that teased where the Marvel Cinematic Universe was heading to next, the screen goes white and Captain America himself appears and stares into the eyes of the movie theater.
“Cap is breaking the fourth wall??” we all thought, wondering what exactly what he was going to tell us. Everyone in the movie theater was hanging on his every letter, and when he opened his mouth, we leaned forward with wonderment.
What Captain America wanted us to talk to us about was “patience,” as in, why we would wait around in the theater, waiting for something to happen. After he got explaining the virtue of patience, he stopped talking and the screen faded to black.
At that point, our “patience” ran out, and everyone burned and pillaged the movie theater, deprived of our post-credit scene goodness that we were spoiled with. Okay, so maybe that’s a stretch, but many were upset by this post-credit scene. When you think back on it, Captain America’s PSA was a stroke of genius by Marvel, poking fun at all of us who sit in our chairs, patiently anticipating the post-credit scenes.
Touché Marvel, touché.
Credit: Marvel Studios/Sony/Columbia Pictures; from Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
12. Adrian and Mac meet in prison (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Before Captain America gave us his grand speech about patience, we were treated to a frienemy meeting between Adrian Toomes and Mac Gargan in a prison hallway.
Adrian, who was probably still a little PO’ed about his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man putting him in the not-so-friendly neighborhood of the Big House, was walking with revenge on his mind until he met Scarface’s son, Mac.
Mac instantly notices that Adrian would like to dip Spider-Man in a pool full of acid, and he reassures him that he has “friends” who are looking to kill the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Mac also throws at Adrian’s face that he knows who Spider-Man’s real identity really is. Adrian, now playing dumb, says he doesn’t have any idea once-so-ever who Spider-Man’s true identity is.
All he wants is for Scarface’s son to stop talking to him so he can see his family, because, that’s all a man wants in prison. It was a tense scene that, at the time, left a bit to be desired, but, when you look back on it, you can feel the tense of this jailhouse hallway scene.
It didn’t provide much movement into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was a good post-credit scene either way. Also, I didn’t know that you could make friends in a prison hallway.
Photo Credit: Marvel’s The Avengers/Marvel Studios
11. Nick Fury gives a world-changing assignment (Captain America: The First Avenger)
Usually, after you’re done saving the world, all you want to do is go home, drink some beer, and watch some T.V.
I’m pretty sure this was Captain America’s plan after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. Cap was in the gym, getting his workout on, until his new boss, Nick Fury, comes in to give him the bad news — that he would have to be working some overtime.
Now, we don’t know exactly what was in the envelope that Fury passed to Cap, but he made sure to let him know that this next assignment was going to have some “worldwide ramifications,” which means, we’re all screwed if Cap doesn’t pull this mission off.
It wasn’t so much that post-credit scene had us on the edge of our seats, but what proceeded afterward that begged for it to land on this list. After Cap received his assignment and subsequently went to cry in the car about working overtime, Marvel did something rare — they showed us a teaser trailer for the film that would proceed, Captain America: The Avengers.
It was a teaser all right, as the trailer didn’t let us in on the plot, but for us Marvel nuts out there, we probably already knew what was up. But, it was nice for Marvel to reward us fans who stick around in the theater waiting for the next shoe to drop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which would drop in May 2012.
It still sucks, though, that Captain America had to work overtime.
Photo Credit: Iron Man 3/Marvel Studios
10. Bruce Banner wasn’t paying attention (Iron Man 3)
You ever have that moment when you’re telling a story and the person you’re telling it too isn’t paying attention?
Well, that’s what Tony Stark felt in the post-credit scene of Iron Man 3 when he was retelling his battle with Aldrich Killian to Bruce Banner, only to find out that Banner was asleep the entire time.
Either that was an incredibly boring story, or Banner suffers from a sleep disorder. We will never know, but it also appeared that Stark didn’t give two-cents about Banner snoozing through his war story.
Why? Because, after he caught Banner napping, he went into another story, which, at this point, Banner dreamed of turning into the Hulk and smashing Stark into the ground.
Didn’t he get the hint the first time? Listen, I know, there are a bunch of great storytellers out there. Believe me, I’m one of them. But, sometimes a person just isn’t up for a story, especially one that glorifies yourself and no one else.
So do I fault Banner for falling asleep during Stark’s story? Heck no!
Here’s a wise tip out there for those storytellers: If you don’t want people falling asleep during your story, then make sure the story is interesting. The topic could be boring as rocks, but if you make it interesting, people will listen.
No charge for the tip.
Photo Credit: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy/Marvel Studios
9. Baby Groot got moves (Guardians of the Galaxy)
I’m going to put on my honesty hat for a second: I wasn’t a big fan of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Now, I know there are some diehard Guardians fans out there, and the movie wasn’t bad, it was alright. But ranked among the other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, this one ranks near the bottom in terms of “interest factor” for me.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy the post-credit scenes, one of which had to make it on this list.
So, we find Baby Groot sitting in his pot, and all of a sudden, The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” comes on. This gets Groot up and dancing, while Drax the Destroyer is sitting in front of him, sharpen his two knives.
Once Drax isn’t looking, Groot gets back up and shakes his groove thing.
It was a super sweet moment in Marvel post-credit scene history, and, quite frankly, I enjoyed this PCS a tad bit more than the movie as a whole. Again, I totally understand why there are some hardcore Guardians fans out there, I do, but the post-credit scenes (yes, there’s a second one that will be on this list) were better than the movie.
Please don’t stone me.
Photo Credit: Captain America: Civil War/Marvel Studios
8. Meeting the new Peter Parker (Captain America: Civil War)
In the third installment of Captain America, we were treated with two post-credit scenes, both of which will be featured on this list.
The first gave us a glimpse at the time into the re-booted Spider-Man. I imagine that Marvel Studios wanted to reboot the series after the utter disaster that was Spider-Man 3 (seeing Peter Parker do a Saturday Night Live-like dance down the street did it for me). It was the first Marvel movie I was ever close to walking out on, and when Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked in, I figured that they had to save Spider-Man.
Save it they did.
In the post-credit scene after Captain American: Civil War, we see the new Peter Parker lying on his bed, when Aunt May, ever the caring aunt, asked Peter how in the world he got his black eye. Not wanting to kill Aunt May early from shock and stress, he just brushes it off, and, somehow, Aunt May buys it.
When she leaves the room, Peter begins to play with his new-found toy, the Web-Shooters, and he sees the spider-shape symbol light up on his ceiling. One, I didn’t know that spider webs could light up, and, two, how in God’s name did Peter learn how to make art out of spider webs?
Talent, folks, talent.
It was a super-awesome preview to Spider-Man: Homecoming, a movie that would thankfully wipe our memories of the old Peter Parker doing the worst Saturday Night Live strut we’ve ever witnessed.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
L to R: Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Wong (Benedict Wong)
Photo: Chuck Zlotnick
©Marvel Studios 2018
7. Finding the pager (Avengers: Infinity Wars)
OK, so for those who haven’t seen Captain Marvel (which, by the way, you totally should), then I’m going to warn you that this may contain a little spoiler. So, if you’re not into spoilers, then please flip to the next slide.
You’re still here? OK, here it goes.
So, in Captain Marvel, Vers takes Fury’s texting pager and gives it an “upgrade.” That upgrade makes it so he can use his texting pager to summon her in case of emergencies since she will be super busy with other, superhero stuff.
Before her triumphant debut, we got a glimpse into what would be waiting for us in Captain Marvel at the ending of Avengers: Infinity Wars. In this post-credit scene, Fury, sensing that this is one of those emergencies to call Vers, sends a distress signal to the then-unidentified individual before he, and everyone around him, disintegrates into dust.
It was an intensepost-credit scene, as those who haven’t brushed up on the Marvel history had no idea who Fury was summoning. As it turn eventually is revealed, he was contacting Captain Marvel, who wasn’t on the planet before Thanos sent it into an ashy hell.
Thankfully this, and the post-credit scene after Ant-Man and the Wasp, would tie into the events of Avengers: Endgame.
Credit: Marvel Studios for Avengers: Infinity War (2018) — Thanos (Josh Brolin)
6. Courting death (The Avengers)
Whenever someone tells you that you’re “courting death,” that is something that you don’t take too lightly, even if you’re gifted with divine superpowers.
Such was the case after The Avengers when in a mid-credit scene, The Other (really wished they could have given him a better name) informs Thanos that the double-crossing Loki didn’t have much success in battling The Avengers.
Thanos then looked at The Other with that “I told you he would fail” look, telling him that going up against the Avengers was akin to courting death, which is not a good thing any way you slice it.
Taking a second thought at it, however, throwing a challenge to the Avengers wasn’t such a bad idea for a guy like Thanos, who may want a taste of this sweet death thanks to the name his parents gave him.
As we learn throughout the Avengers series, Thanos does, indeed, become a thorn in the side of the Marvel superheroes, stealing the Tesseract and causing all sorts of carnage in the universe. We didn’t know it back in 2012, but, darn it, do we know just how powerful Thanos is now, and I have some real doubt that the Avengers will be able to stop him in Endgame.
I may be wrong, as I’ve been wrong before, so we’re just going to have to check out Avengers: Endgame in order to see if his challenging of the Avengers is, indeed, courting death for Thanos.
Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK..L to R: Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Surtur..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2017
5. ‘Hey, whose in that big spaceship?’ (Thor: Ragnarok)
When you see a large spaceship just appear out of nowhere in front of you, what exactly would you do?
If you were Thor and Loki, you would be looking at each other and seeing if it was a great time to go down to Earth since it was looking like our world would be turned into a blackened ash cloud in the universe.
That’s exactly what happened at the end of Thor: Ragnarok, a movie that I fairly enjoyed and was a nice sequel to the first Thor. In the mid-credits scene, Loki goes to visit Thor in his quarters, and he pointedly asks if heading down to the human planet was a good idea.
Thor, who has fallen in love with Earth as it’s a nice vacation spot, says Earth is totally fine to visit. But, when he gives his answer, a huge spaceship appears in front of theirs, and all of a sudden, it looks like heading to Miami Beach for some sun and fun would not be a great idea at the moment.
This moment was a prelude to the events that would unfold in Avengers: Infinity War, as we know that the ship belonged to Thanos, who was not only planning to visit South Beach but obliterate it.
Way to kill the party vibe, Thanos!
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2..L to R: Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) ..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2017
4. Howard the Duck makes his comeback (Guardians Of the Galaxy)
So, we’ve already established that Guardians of the Galaxy wasn’t one of my favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but the post-credit scenes from the movie was a surprising joy to watch.
The first one showcased Groot throwing some serious dance moves at us, and would have been a blast in its own right, hadn’t been for the second post-credit scene that followed.
This one deserves a bit of back history.
Back in 1973, Marvel Comics premiered Howard the Duck, which featured a walking, talking duck who became trapped on Earth. Howard the Duck was billed as “social satire,” but it never really caught on with Marvel fans, and has now become a little-known relic in the Marvel universe.
In 1986, someone decided that it would be a great idea to make Howard the Duck into a live-action film; and, it turned out not to be a great idea as it bombed at the box office, and was, again, relegated to obscurity.
What does this have to do with the post-credit scene for Guardians? A whole lot.
Taneleer Tivan is sitting within his ruined museum, pondering if his insurance will either take care of it or raise his rates dramatically, seeing that insurance companies are not a fan of superhero destruction and all. Cosmo, in trying to cheer up Taneleer, walks over and licks his face, which gets a reaction from, you guessed it, Howard the Duck!
And the world smiled again.
Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER..T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
3. Wakanda forever! (Black Panther)
Can we all agree that Black Panther was one of the best films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe era?
Well, I personally think so. I mean, Black Panther gave us a new way to great each other and took us to the wonderful world of Wakanda, which, during the film, nobody even knew existed. It stayed that way until the ending, when T’Challa, fresh off of kicking some major butt, realized that Wakanda needed to open itself up to the world to help the world become a better place.
What better place to proclaim Wakanda open for business than the Vienna International Centre in front of the United Nation, and I’m pretty sure that most of those countries were elated to have Wakanda open its borders go ham on its resources.
We don’t know exactly what happened after that rousing speech in front of the UN, but we’re probably sure that McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s, all opened franchises there, and trade in and out of Wakanda made it the richest places in the world.
So, not only is T’Challa famous for being a leader that can turn into a cool cat and kick butt, but he also is making major changes in the world. Coolest leader ever.
Wakanda forever!
Marvel Studios ANT-MAN AND THE WASP..Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
2. They just disintegrated! (Ant-Man and the Wasp)
I don’t know about you, but I really enjoyed Ant-Man and the Wasp.
It was a funny, action-pact movie that really kept you engaged, and the film, in my opinion at least, was what made Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films better than Phase Two.
Again, it’s just my opinion, so please don’t stone me.
In the post-credit scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott Lang goes inside the Quantum Realm to harvest the quantum particles, while Hank, Hope, and Janet, all await outside. As Scott tries to signal that he’s done the harvesting and is ready to the real world, no one answers.
Thinking that it’s a trick they’re playing on him, Scott continues to call out to the trio, only for us to see that they’ve all disintegrated into ash, thanks to the events of Avengers: Infinity Wars.
That darn Thanos!
It was very clever how Marvel tied Ant-Man into giving us more clues as to what the world happened in Infinity Wars, and it only makes Endgame that much more of an anticipated movie. Thanos really screwed up the universe, and we’re all on the edge of our seats wondering if it can be pieced back together again. The post-credit scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp also added some humor in the form of Scott and the Ant, who was jamming away when the Emergency Alert System goes off.
Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN MARVEL..Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) ..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2019
1. The formation of the Avengers (Iron-Man)
Ah, Iron Man, the movie that kicked started the yearly phenomenon that would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Robert Downey Jr. was masterful as Tony Stark, and Iron Man convinced the folks at Marvel that, in order to do their movies right, they needed to make them on their own. Before Iron Man, Marvel movies outside of the X-Men universe were not up to par, but Iron Man changed all of that.
The post-credit scene for Iron Man would also introduce us Marvel fans into what was to come for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In it, Stark enters his mansion, and he’s greeted by the one-eyed Nick Fury, who, after an animated conversation, tells Stark that he isn’t the only “superhero” in the world, much to Stark’s dismay.
What this conversation does is set us up for the “phases” of Marvel Studio’s evolution. After Iron Man, we’d meet the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, all of which would go on to make up The Avengers, which would be the cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe era.
With how it was structured and filmed, this post-credit scene should be enshrined in movie history, or Marvel history, at least. That’s why the Iron Man post-credit scene will always be the best one ever. It helped established the Universe we all love today.
What has been your favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe post-credit scene? Is there any Marvel Cinematic Universe post-credit scene you’re surprised to see didn’t make the cut?