Marvel Studios is in the midst of its biggest slate of projects to date, which started with Phase 4 in 2021 and will continue with even more excitement coming in 2022. Included in that excitement will be a new round of post-credits scenes from potentially a dozen movies and Disney+ shows coming in the next 12 months, although there is no way to tell what those post-credits scenes will actually show yet.
2021 featured more than a dozen new additions to this legacy from the MCU's five Disney+ shows and four movies that debuted between January and December. While the full musical number "I Could Do This All Day" from the end of Hawkeye may have let down some fans, other projects brought the heat with Harry Styles' Eros in Eternals and the first Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer after Spider-Man: No Way Home.
As Phase 4 continues with new entries like Moon Knight, Thor: Love and Thunder, and She-Hulk, fans will be looking forward to seeing what new teases come after these projects' core stories. To celebrate that future along with Marvel's history with these teases, one of the company's social media pages is looking back on some of the best post-credits scenes.
Stay for Marvel's MCU Post-Credits Scenes!
The Marvel UK Instagram page shared images from eight MCU post-credits scenes to celebrate Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga. The post included the following caption urging fans to remain in their seats until the very end of each MCU entry:
"Stay *and we can't stress this enough* to the end!"
Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes leads things off in the post-credits scene from 2018's Black Panther. In this scene, Barnes is regaining control of his mind after having the Winter Soldier programming removed as he emerges from a tent and talks to Letitia Wright's Shuri about his progress in returning to his old self.
The post pays tribute to the MCU's earliest days by including an image of Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury from 2008's Iron Man. This scene kicked off the MCU's post-credits scene legacy as Fury broke into Tony Stark's house, recapped the events of Stark's speech revealing his identity as Iron Man, and sent fans into a frenzy by mentioning "the Avenger initiative."
Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olson's Scarlet Witch are featured in the mid-credits scene from 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The two are testing out their new abilities after HYDRA's experiments with Loki's scepter as Baron Von Strucker calls that time "the age of miracles."
Although he didn't utter one word of dialogue, the Mad Titan Thanos stole the show in the mid-credits scene from 2012's The Avengers where The Other looked back on the Avengers' victory over Loki and the Chitauri. After The Other proclaimed to Thanos that "to challenge them is to court Death," the purple antagonist turns toward the camera and gives a sinister grin, teasing impending doom in later movies.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 featured a whopping five post-credits scenes, the first of which highlighted the original Ravagers team that reunited after Yondu's death. Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone) brought the group together with Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh), Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), Mainframe (Miley Cyrus), Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames), and Krugarr forming the new team.
Avengers: Infinity War followed up with Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill as they found out about the effects of Thanos' Snap, with both SHIELD operatives being dusted in the process. Before he disappeared, Fury pulled out an old pager and sent a message out to an unknown source, although the logo that appeared before the screen turned to black was that of Captain Marvel.
A second post-credits scene from Guardians 2 featured Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha recovering from her defeat as she looked upon a new birthing pod, which held something "capable of destroying the Guardians of the Galaxy." As she looked toward it, she decided to call him "Adam," teasing the arrival of Adam Warlock, which was eventually confirmed to come in 2023's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne looks upon the new and improved Wasp suit that her father Hank developed in the mid-credits scene from 2015's Ant-Man. As Hank decided to revisit his work and finish making the suit for Hope, his daughter simply told him "it's about damn time."
The MCU's Post-Credits Legacy Lives On
Marvel Studios almost single-handedly made the post-credits scene part of the moviegoing experience, ensuring that fans don't miss a second of the action that the MCU teases for future entries. With eight movies from 2008 to 2018 featured in this post, fans get the opportunity to look back on some of the incredible moments that give just a hint of what to look forward to in the future.
These post-credits scenes have varied wildly in terms of their importance to the franchise as a whole or to individual characters within the MCU. Some have set up stories that will see the screen as little as one movie down the road, a la Black Panther for Avengers: Infinity War, while other scenes aren't paid off for anywhere from five to six years like the one from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
With 32 movies and TV shows having now premiered within the MCU, the franchise impressively boasts more than 50 mid- or post-credits scenes, and that trend doesn't look to stop anytime soon.
While it's unclear when fans can expect the next MCU project on Disney+, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be in theaters this May, and with it and other entries will surely come another exciting round of scenes after the credits roll.
