‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Proves It’s Time To Retire the Post-Credits Scene Trend

Deadpool & Wolverine‘s disappointing post-credits scene suggests it’s time to finally retire the trend.

The third movie in the Deadpool franchise premiered on July 26 and scored a massive $205 million opening at the box office. So far, reviews for the new film have been highly positive, as it finally delivered the one proper superhero crossover fans have been waiting ages for. Deadpool & Wolverine follows Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) as he tries to recruit a variant of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to save his timeline from Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen). Along the way, the pair comes across numerous variants of Marvel heroes, resulting in some exciting cameos.

However, the movie doesn’t have much connection to the MCU since it takes place in the original X-Men universe. It plays out like a standalone movie instead of one that’s part of a more expansive shared universe. As a result, viewers hoping that Deadpool & Wolverine would have some kind of connection to the MCU’s upcoming movies likely had high expectations for the post-credits scene.

With a multiverse movie as big as Deadpool & Wolverine, surely the post-credits scene was going to be huge and feature someone like Loki (Tom Hiddleston) or Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) or at least do something for the wider MCU. That wasn’t the case, though.

Deadpool & Wolverine drops the ball on its post-credits scene

The Deadpool & Wolverine post-credits scene doesn’t set up another MCU movie or even feature a major fan service cameo. Instead, the scene is just a joke. In the film, Chris Evans reprises his role as Johnny Storm from Fantastic Four. However, he gets killed after Deadpool relays to Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) the expletive-filled rant Johnny supposedly went on about her. Viewers don’t see Johnny say these things, and he vehemently denies it, so it’s supposed that Deadpool was just being Deadpool and got him killed for no reason.

So Deadpool & Wolverine decided to use the post-credits scene to set the record straight. Viewers see Johnny himself go on the vulgar tirade, holding nothing back. I’ll admit, it was funny, especially since Evans is famous for his Captain America scene where he warns his fellow Avengers about “language.” However, I was also very frustrated. I had all my hopes riding on the post-credits scene being something big for the MCU or at least taking advantage of the movie’s multiverse premise. It was just meaningless, though.

My frustration may have been exacerbated by the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine is just the latest movie to pull this stunt. Numerous recent major releases, including The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Inside Out 2, all had equally unnecessary post-credits scenes. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom won the prize for the absolute worst post-credits scene, as it’s literally just Orm (Patrick Wilson) eating a bug. The Flash isn’t far behind with a cryptic and odd post-credits scene of Aquaman (Jason Momoa) lying in a puddle.

Inside Out 2 felt like an especially big letdown. During the film, there’s a mention of Riley having a deep, dark secret. In the post-credits scene, as the secret prepares to come out, one can’t help but hope that maybe it has something to do with Riley’s sexuality since the movie appeared to be dropping hints of her having a crush on a girl. However, in the end, the post-credits scene reveals her big secret is simply that she burned a hole in the rug. Once again, it’s a credits scene that will make you chuckle and feel frustrated and annoyed.

Marvel was the franchise that popularized post-credits scenes because it used them effectively to set up new movies and characters. For example, there’s nothing quite like the Iron Man post-credits scene where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) shows up to tease The Avengers. The MCU used to include post-credits scenes that gave viewers an almost overwhelming sensation of anticipation and excitement, and it wasn’t long before the DCU and other Disney movies started following suit. Now, though, these scenes are becoming unnecessary. It’s getting to the point where even when the DCEU knew it was ending or the MCU realized it was growing disconnected and facing major delays between films, they still insisted on putting completely random post-credits scenes in their movies just to have them.

If post-credits scenes aren’t serving any real purpose anymore, it might be time for franchises to retire the trend of using them in every movie.