Why Doesn't Avengers: Endgame Have A Post-Credits Scene?

Avengers: Endgame made a right call by not having post-credit scenes; here's why.

The latest MCU offering, Avengers: Endgame, is just starting to hit theaters, and reports have it that movie will satisfy you with all but one thing. It’s not because this one aspect of the movie is bad — but because the fans stayed all the way through to see this particular glimpse, which is the famous post-credit scene of the Marvel Cinematics. But much to fans dismay, they got nothing after the names.

Post-credits scenes have been an integral part of MCU movies ever since 2009’s Iron Man ended with Nick Fury inviting Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to join the Avengers Initiative. Recently, extra mid-credits scenes have also become a regular feature of Marvel movies. They reward audiences who stick around through the often-lengthy credits, and they’ve become a way to alert a little about plot moments by adding a final gag and some form of extra payoff, usually designed to raise the anticipation about the next movie or the other related Marvel story.

Joe and Anthony Russo decided not to feature the traditional post-credit scene in Avengers: Endgame. 
SOURCE: Marvel studios

For once, there’s nothing extra after the credits of Endgame. Traditional MCU fans might find that disappointing. After all, they’re used to expecting just one more tidbit. After three hours of adventure from electrifying climactic battle to endless little gifts for longtime MCU viewers — audiences aren’t going to want the fun to end during Avengers 4. They’re going to hope for just a little more before they have to exit the multiplex.

However, Endgame isn’t going to follow the norm of the previous 21 films, but cutting the credits scenes seems to be the right direction.

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The post-credits sequences have always been controversial for directors who want to tell one complete, tonally coherent story but they always have to add a glimpse of the movie unrelated to their film.

As intriguing as the post-credit scenes are, and no matter to what extent it connects the other MCU movies, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re essentially advertisements Marvel sticks at the back of every film to make sure fans never walk out of a theater without being compelled for their next trip back.

Experts explain why Endgame was always going to work better without the post-credits clip as they explained: the movie is about conclusions, catharsis, and endings. Back in 2018, nobody could have anticipated how much of Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo would spend on dark and anguished grief, or how the film develops into triumph. But viewers did suspect it was going to be a film focusing on the eulogy. And given how right they are, the farewell moment wouldn’t have squared with some unrelated clips from a different movie.

Watch the casts of Avengers: Endgame playing a drawing game.

Endgame isn’t just a direct sequel to Infinity War and neither is a standalone slate from Marvel. The film is rather a culmination of 21 stories finally coming together. In that sense, Endgame was the time to pay the check and end the story instead of endlessly escalating and teasing the next thing. Based on how Marvel has been showing the credit stingers, what could Endgame possibly tack on as a satisfying ending?

Arguably, though, the film does show a traditional Marvel post-credits scene; it’s just fused into the movie instead of separated from it. The traditional post-credits scene would be a tease for the next MCU film — in this case, Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is coming to theaters in July.

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Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently confirmed that Far From Home is the final movie to Marvel’s Phase Three film arc, so, presumably, it takes place after Endgame. On that note, one of the scenes at the end of the film (which we can’t spoil yet) could be presumed as the traditional teaser for the next steps. The Russos just chose to not exclude that sequence or exaggerate its importance. They just wanted viewers to sit for a little while with the end of this story before craving for the next one.