After 10 years and 19 movies – Avengers: Infinity War included – the MCU is basically synonymous with post-credits scenes designed to set up the next chapter in Marvel’s blockbuster franchise. Or, in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, revealing a happy little sapling so that audiences leave the theater with a smile on their face.
But the gravitas of Infinity War deserved something a little more understated, and sure enough, the post-credits scene featured Nick Fury and Maria Hill feeling the effects of Thanos’ devastating snap, which destroyed half of all life in the universe. That includes the two former S.H.I.E.L.D agents, as well. But before he vanishes into thin air, Fury’s able to send a message for help, one that goes out to none other than Captain Marvel.
It’s a great tease for what’s to come, but according to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, we almost didn’t get anything at all after the credits. That’s something we’ve heard from directors Joe and Anthony Russo, too, and in an interview with Collider, the scribes explained why at one point, they weren’t going to do a post-credits scene.
“[The question was] do you want to give any hope? And we wanted primarily not to, because you’d go, ‘ah, they’re going to get out of jail free.’ It’s a tragedy, and tragedies end in a grim and sad way. We want you to sit with those 8 or 10 minutes of credits, owning that movie.”
Of course, they eventually came around to writing one and here, they reveal why they felt that the Captain Marvel tease was appropriate for the film:
“When we figured out Captain Marvel takes place in the past, and Fury’s in it, and they interact, we realized there’s a pre-existing…it’s more than just a ‘oh that one’s not dead, he’s getting up.’ It’s hinting at a whole path of story that isn’t in the movie, so it seemed legit to us.”
Of course, now that Avengers: Infinity War is doing gangbusters, it won’t be long before Carol Danvers receives her own time in the spotlight and you can look for Captain Marvel to carve out a new corner of the MCU on March 8th, 2019.
