Ever since Nick Fury showed up at the end of Iron Man and dropped the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first major bombshell, fans of the comic book genre have been conditioned to expect post-credits scenes that tease what’s to come. Of course, with Constantine ending on a similar note and there being no sign of a sequel fifteen years later, it isn’t always a guarantee that the stinger will lead to bigger and better things.
When it was first announced, The New Mutants was set to be a part of Fox’s X-Men franchise, but the project has suffered so many setbacks that it finally debuts in theaters today as the first to be released under the Disney banner. And with Marvel Studios starting from scratch when it comes to their newly-acquired roster of mutants, Josh Boone’s spinoff looks set to be a one-and-done effort.
There were reports that Jon Hamm had shot a cameo as Mister Sinister to build towards future installments, but given Disney’s takeover of Fox and the subsequent issues that saw The New Mutants delayed several more times, unless the movie turns out to be a critically-acclaimed box office smash hit, then sequels seem like a remote possibility, especially when critics are refusing to even watch it on safety grounds and the theatrical industry is still a shell of its former self.
However, despite admitting in a recent interview that there’s no bonus footage during the credits, Boone encouraged audiences to stick around a little longer anyway to see a brand new tribute to the source material from acclaimed comic book artist Bill Sienkiewicz.
“I did something better. I can’t give you a post-credit scene because I had to scrap it, because then it would entail that there was another movie. So, but what I did is we had Bill Sienkiewicz, we had Bill come and, he did illustrations of everybody for the end credits. So, like when it says Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill did a brand new thing behind her. So like, you’ll see a bunch of his artwork sort of represented during the end titles, which I hope will be good for fans.”
That seems like a fair compromise for fans, with Sienkiewicz well known for his revolutionary style that he used to great effect during his time at Marvel, and it sounds like the credits will pay a fitting tribute to both the artist and the New Mutants themselves.
