The Worst Post-Credits Scenes Ever

Legend tells of a time in ancient history — way back in the 1990s! — when people got up and left the movie theater as soon as the end credits started to roll.

Those days are long gone now, and have been ever since Samuel L. Jackson set foot in Tony Stark’s mansion in Iron Man. Sure, movies occasionally had post-credits scenes before 2008. (Remember when Ferris Bueller popped his head out and told the audience the movie was over and they should go home?) But Iron Man established the precedent that continues to this day: Big blockbusters get post-credits scenes.

I remember the reaction that first Nick Fury scene got in a multiplex — and I remember how it was eclipsed a few years later by the reaction to Thanos’ debut at the end of The Avengers. When these post-credits scenes work, they put an emphatic exclamation point on the end of an effective film while leaving the viewer with questions to think over, stoking demand for a potential sequel.

But what if the sequel never happens? What if the questions the scene raises aren’t ones that moviegoers are interested in answering? Then you have an ending that leaves people flummoxed and disappointed, to the point that it can ruin an otherwise satisfying movie. And if the studio doesn’t follow-up that post-credits scene with another movie, and that cliffhanger is left unresolved, you’re in real trouble.

That brings us to this list of the 15 worst post-credits scenes ever. It features unwanted cameos, unexplained mysteries, and baffling character choices. We may never return to that time in ancient history before the days of post-credits scenes. Then again, given some of the movies below, we just might.

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