(WARNING: There might be some spoilers
if you haven't seen 'The Avengers')
Odds are whenever you watch a movie,
whether in the theater or at home, you're done watching it as soon as
the credits start rolling. But recently, a new trend has occurred
where many films include what we call a 'post-credit stinger' at the
end of the credits, usually to leave things open for a possible
sequel or to add in one last joke. Whether or not a sequel is made
pretty much depends if audiences liked the film or not, so these
'stingers' aren't guarantees that a film will get a sequel. Even so,
doing a 'post-credit stinger' is very tricky because not many people
will be willing to sit through the entire credits just to watch one
quick scene.
Post-credit stingers have been around
for quite a while but before they became popular, films usually ended
with lines of text that would state the plans for a sequel, one
example being the 1963 film 'From Russia With Love' which ended with
the line 'James Bond will return'. The first major use of a
post-credits stinger was in 1979's 'The Muppet Movie' and after that,
these scenes became popular in the 80's. They were usually used in
comedy films to break the fourth wall in films such as 'Ferris
Bueller's Day Off' and 'Spice World'. More recently, post-credit
stingers have become common in the Marvel movies that led up to 'The
Avengers', starting with the first Iron Man film in 2008 when SHIELD
director Nick Fury appeared in Tony Stark's house to talk to him
about 'The Avenger Initiative'.
Since then, every other pre-Avenger
Marvel film included a scene at the end of the credits that continued
to build up anticipation for 'The Avengers', ending when the
post-credit scene at the end of 'Captain America: The First Avenger'
gave audiences a first look at director Joss Whedon's ultimate
superhero team up. Marvel wasn't done yet, as 'The Avengers' had not
one, but two end-credit scenes. The first was the scene to set up a
sequel, introducing the villain Thanos. The second scene where the
Avengers eat in silence at a shwarma restaurant was played more for
laughs, but I have the feeling that when the film first came out, not
many people knew about it for a few reasons. First of all, that scene
was filmed not when they were actually filming the movie, but after
the movie was already completed. But the bigger reason is because
most people probably thought the scene with Thanos was the only
post-credit stinger, so they did not stay to the end of the credits
to watch the other scene. The first time I saw 'The Avengers' in
theaters, me and my friend Zach were the only people left in the
theater when that second scene played. The second time I saw the
film, a few more people stayed but by then the majority of the crowd
that night had left.
You see, when it comes to a film's
credits, there are usually two parts to it. There is what I refer to
as the 'visual credits' which are the first credits that pop up
listing the director, writer, actors, etc. After that are the
traditional 'scrolling credits' that list everyone else. Except for
the Thanos scene, every Marvel post-credit stinger, with one
exception, was placed at the end of the scrolling credits, meaning
that in order to see them, you would have to stay through the credits
and not many people do that anyway. They just leave as soon as the
movie's over. If you have seen all of the other post-credit stingers
in the Iron Man movies, Thor, and Captain America, then you knew that
there would be a scene after 'The Avengers'. After all, when a film
earns one billion at the box office and is as amazing as it is, it's
clear they'll make a sequel. But the scene with Thanos was placed
right after the visual credits so people must have thought that that
was all they were going to do.
What Marvel should have done for all of
the 'pre-Avenger movies' was to have the post-credits stingers put
after the visual credits. One of the pre-Avenger movies, The
Incredible Hulk, actually had its post-credit stinger even before the
visual credits. That is where they should have put that scene with
Thanos in 'The Avengers' and then have the scene in the shwarma
restaurant after the visual credits. In terms of other movies, films
like 'Green Lantern' and 'Fast Five' did the smart thing and had
their post-credit stingers placed after the visual credits. But films
like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies put their end-credit scenes
after the scrolling credits. Most people aren't going to stay through
the whole credits because let's face it, it's boring. If the
filmmakers do it that way, then they should do it the way John Hughes
did it in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. What Hughes did was put another
scene that he couldn't find a place for in the movie over the credits
so that way people would stay to watch the post-credits stinger.
It is also risky to do a post-credits
stinger if you're leaving things open for a sequel. Of course, Marvel
could get away with that in terms of their movies because it was
certain after Iron Man that an Avengers movie was possible. I'm not
so sure though that a film like 'Green Lantern' or 'Battleship' is
going to get away with it because not only were both of these films
poorly received, but they barely earned their budgets back at the box
office. Just because you include these scenes does not mean that
Hollywood will call you back to make another film if your first film
doesn't make any money. But then again, look to the year 2011 where
there literally 28 sequels released that year so a film does
technically always have a chance of getting a sequel but it doesn't
mean that everyone will see it.
Including post-credits stingers to any
movie is tricky. What filmmakers should do if to put their end-credit
scenes after the first half of the credits so that no one will have
to stay through the whole credits just to watch a single scene. If a
filmmaker does decide to put the end-credit scene after the scrolling
credits, do something so that audiences won't be bored. This is the
age where people don't even watch commercials anymore because they
Tivo everything and when these movies come out on DVD, odds are
people are just going to skip through the credits to get to that
stinger. Now that 'The Avengers' is completed, Marvel will probably
do more post-credits stingers after their next few movies but they'll
probably make us wait for the credits just to see them.
...
What, you're still here? It's over! Go
home. Go!
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