Ever since the first Iron Man treated audiences to a sneak peek of Nick Fury in its post-credits sequence, the bar was set. Every subsequent movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made full use of that allocated slot to clue in moviegoers to larger pieces of the overarching story (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), hint at potential villains (The Avengers) and revisit popular characters of yesteryear (Guardians Of The Galaxy). That trend is finally set to buck with this year’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron, as director Joss Whedon and Marvel brass Kevin Feige have announced the unthinkable.
According to them, the superhero sequel will not have a post-credits sequence. Whedon cites the impromptu spirit of the now-infamous shawarma bit attached to the end of the first Avengers as the reason why Ultron won’t conclude with one of its own:
“We all came at it separately—we don’t want to chase that. That was a jewel and a weird little quirk,” he told EW. “It didn’t seem to lend itself in the same way, and we wanted to be true to what felt right. The first rule of making a sequel is take the best moments and do something else. Don’t do the Indiana Jones gun trick again differently. Just go somewhere else. Don’t try to hit the same highs, because people will sense it.”
It’s not all bad news, though. To soften the blow, Feige alludes to the existence of a “tag” that’s positioned as a short epilogue following the final scene, saying that:
“There will be a tag. But there’s not a post-post-credit scene.”
Reaffirming that decision to include a smaller conclusion, Whedon said:
“There is nothing at the very end. And that’s not a fake-out. We want people to know so they don’t sit there for 10 minutes and then go: ‘Son of a bitch! I’ll kill them!’”
While the decision may seem insignificant – it’s not as if we won’t have a movie packed with nail-biting action – it does suggest that earlier rumors hinting at a post-credits sequence revealing the new Avengers line-up are now officially dead. As well as the newly-enlisted Spider-Man, who recently boarded the MCU, talk has emerged about the possibility of Captain Marvel’s first on-screen appearance taking place in the end credits. Now that we know a post-POST-credits event is off the table, might there still be a chance to see Carol Danvers for the very first time?