The post-credits scene in Thunderbolts* went through multiple iterations featuring several major MCU characters, including Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror. Marvel Studios films' after-credits stingers famously contain hints at what's to come in the cinematic universe. Once intended to be the overarching villain of the Multiverse Saga, Majors' character was written out of the MCU, leaving Thunderbolts* to find an alternate final teaser.
Thunderbolts* co-writer Eric Pearson has revealed some of the characters that featured in various drafts of the film's post-credits scenes. Speaking to IGN, the writer revealed that an early iteration of the movie featured a scene that "had to deal with Kang:"
"So I was throwing together at the beginning a post-credit sequence that had to deal with Kang."
This scene never transpired for several reasons, one of which was that Majors was convicted of assault in 2023, which led to Marvel Studios dropping the actor. The Hollywood strikes also paused Thunderbolts' production for several months, during which the MCU shifted its strategy away from Kang being the major villain. Kang's arc had been set up in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which teased the Council of Kangs, but Marvel Studios has not acknowledged this since.
Pearson shared that an alternate version of Thunderbolts* after-credits scene revealed more of the set-up behind Florence Pugh's appearance as Yelena Belova in Hawkeye:
"[Another idea] had to deal with more of a direct relation to the fact that [Julia Louis-Dreyfus’] Valentina [Allegra de Fontaine] sent Yelena after Clint Barton, after Hawkeye, [for] the 'Hawkeye' show. But as time passes, you're like, well, is anyone going to make that connection still to the thing that they haven't seen in two or three years?"
Many fans hoped that Daniel Brühl's Baron Zemo would appear in Thunderbolts* (even though the actor said he wouldn't), given that the character was core to assembling the team in the comics. Pearson revealed that Zemo almost made it into the film via a post-credits scene, where the villain would have been depicted as "pulling the strings from prison:"
"There was definitely a [post-credits] tag that I did a million years ago where Zemo is like Keyser Söze. Like he's been pulling the strings from prison in some way. But I don't think that iteration lived longer than like, ‘Hey, what about this?’ ‘Nope, not that.'"
Those wanting to check out the final iteration of Thunderbolts* post-credits scene can watch the movie in cinemas now. Jake Schreier directs the MCU's final Phase 5 movie, which sees Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), form an unlikely team under the eye of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis Dreyfuss).
Thunderbolts' Post-Credit Scene Changed For The Better
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Thunderbolts*.
Ever since Marvel Studios began teasing its future projects with post-credits scenes in The Incredible Hulk, the studio has become known for its exciting and game-changing reveals for those who are patient enough to wait through the credits.
This has led to Marvel including some game-changing casting announcements and character reveals. Although in the post-Endgame era, many of these post-credits scenes are still waiting to be paid off in the MCU, which has cheapened them somewhat.
In the case of Thunderbolts*, Avengers: Doomsday directors Anthony and Joe Russo filmed the post-credits scene only a few weeks before the movie's release. This enabled the second lengthy post-credits scene, which features the New Avengers members debating their rivalry with Sam Wilson and witnessing the arrival of the Fantastic Four, to be a direct set-up for the next two MCU movies.
This would've been impossible to predict during the early writing phase of Thunderbolts*, as the MCU has dramatically shifted direction in the years since. The focus now is on Robert Downey Jr.'s return as Victor von Doom rather than Majors as Kang. Therefore, Thunderbolts* final post-credits scene feels weightier as fans know it will be paid off immediately in the next few MCU films, rather than teasing something that may never transpire.
