Even though post-credits scenes have been around for a long time, Marvel has made them a staple of their long-running franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Almost every movie has a scene waiting for the audience who sit through the credits. Often times, these scenes are meant to tease future stories for some of our favorite characters.
Sometimes, though, the post-credits scenes don't mean anything. That's not to say they aren't fun to watch. A non-important post-credits scene could be a fun joke for the filmmakers to share with the audience or even a cute easter egg.
The Avengers - Shawarma
At the end of The Avengers, it seemed like Tony Stark had died, but he was revived at the last second and asked if anyone wanted to get Shawarma at a place he saw while he was fighting the Chitari. The very last scene after the credits sees the Avengers all sitting around a table eating Shawarma after the battle.
Even though this scene has become a fan favorite in the last few years, it doesn't really serve any purpose. The important scene was the one before it that revealed Thanos, this was just kind of there for a nice payoff to an improvised line by Robert Downey Jr.
Guardians Of The Galaxy - Dancing Groot
Groot is by far one of the best characters that James Gunn brought to the MCU. After Groot died saving his friends from the crash of the Dark Aster, Rocket planted one of the twigs in a new pot and it grew a new Groot. The first credits scene is a cute moment with the potted baby Groot dancing to Michael Jackson's "I Want Your Back." Whenever Drax looks over at him, he stops dancing, so Drax doesn't suspect anything.
It's a very cute scene that inspired tons of Pop! figures, but it doesn't add anything to the narrative or generate hype for a future appearance. Once again, there's nothing wrong with a fun scene to put during or after your credits, but if you're marathoning the films, you could skip this one.
Guardians Of The Galaxy - Howard The Duck
Guardians of the Galaxy saw the introduction of The Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro. He was looking to acquire the Infinity Stone that the Guardians had come into possession of. After The Collector's assistant touched the stone, the entire collection was destroyed, leaving the displays free to escape. The final scene after the credits shows Howard the Duck, now free, sharing his disgust at Cosmo liking The Collector.
Howard the Duck does appear again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it's another brief cameo. This scene is certainly fun for hardcore comic book fans, or fans of the George Lucas movie, but there's not much more there.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron - Thanos
Avengers: Age of Ultron is pretty Infinity Stone heavy. Vision, Wanda, and Pietro all are born from the Mind Stone inside Loki's staff, but Thanos doesn't play a role in the film. Instead, after the Avengers have defeated Ultron, the credits roll and the final scene is Thanos exclaiming "I'll do it myself" as he puts on the Infinity Gauntlet.
The strange thing about this one is that it doesn't matter. Sure, Thanos continues to be a looming threat to the MCU, but it's not like Ultron worked for him. He would have no reason to know what was going on on Earth. What's more, Avengers: Infinity War, would create a pothole with the Gauntlet just a few years later. It, unfortunately, muddies up the timeline a bit.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Adolescent Groot
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has the most post-credits scenes in the franchise, five in total. The second to last one jumps in time a bit and shows an adolescent Groot in his room playing a handheld gaming device. Peter walks in and asks him to clean up all the twigs and branches on the floor but Groot just talks back to him.
It's fun, but probably not the most important one. It does offer audiences a glimpse at what the relationship between Groot and the Guardians will be in their next appearance but it's not a setup that's needed. If this one got skipped, audiences would have no problem picking up the necessary information in Avengers: Infinity War.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 - The Watcher Informant
One scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 confirmed a long-running fan theory about the Stan Lee cameo, which was that he was working for the Watchers. An intergalactic alien species that watch over various planets in the Multiverse. The final scene at the end of the credits of the film returns to Stan Lee and the other Watchers, and the Watchers just walk away as Stan Lee begs them not to.
This scene doesn't serve a purpose, other than being a cute little button to the cameo in the movie. It is a fun bit of characters walking away as the film ends, but if audiences felt like skipping it then they wouldn't miss much. Although, it is one of the MCU's best easter eggs.
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Patience
Throughout Spider-Man: Homecoming, teachers show videos of Captain America, giving out school lessons to the kids. Either about how important Gym is or a lesson in detention, you get the impression that Captian America had filmed a lot of those. After waiting through the entire credits of the film, Captain America appears on a blank white screen to talk about the importance of patience.
films, but its post-credits scene leaves a bit to be desired. To the right person, this scene plays very funnily, and it is set up in the film, but it doesn't add anything to the movie or the universe at large. There's no new information the audience gets from this scene, outside of a laugh.
Thor: Ragnarok - The Grandmaster
When Thor and the others left Sakar, they left it in a state of revolution. After the film had been completed and the credits rolled, a final scene reveals the Grandmaster coming out of his hiding spot and trying to save face with the people who surely want him dead.
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While Jeff Goldblum is fun as The Grandmaster, this scene really serves to showcase one final moment with the character. In the context of the film, it doesn't mean much and if it wasn't included then audiences wouldn't have missed it. The Grandmaster has no power without his gladiators and the film already showed what happened to them, so there wasn't much need for this scene.
Ant-Man And The Wasp - The Giant Ant
Both of the post-credits scenes in Ant-Man and the Wasp jump the movie forward to the moment when Thanos snaps his fingers and erases half of all life in the Universe. The final scene follows the camera in Scott's abandoned house and ends with the giant ant from earlier in the movie playing the drums.
As far as post-credits scenes go, it's pretty morbid. But the relevant information for audiences had already been given in the first scene. Audiences already know that the Pyms have been erased and that the events of Avengers: Infinity War have happened, so this doesn't really add anything to the franchise. films may have some iconic scenes, but this wasn't one of them.
Hawkeye - Steve Rogers: The Musical
Phase 4 has given some pretty great post-credits scenes, but one stands out as particularly useless. When Hawkeye debuted, Clint and his family go to watch the new Steve Rogers musical, which includes at least one scene of the Battle of New York. But after the final episode, instead of showing something that could be a tease for what's to come, Marvel decided to "treat" fans to a full performance of the Battle of New York scene.
It's possible some people find this scene to be fun and enjoyable, but for those who didn't care for the song, it just comes off as a waste of potential. The joke played fine in the show, but a full version was certainly not needed.
