Every Marvel Post-Credits Scene That Hasn't Paid Off

Whether you've been a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning, or are just now exploring the incredible, strange, and legendary shared cosmos of superheroes, sorcerers, and spies, there is one rule you must follow: Always stay through the end credits.

Ever since Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) surprised Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) with the "Avengers Initiative" at the end of 2008's "Iron Man," post-credits scenes have become a defining aspect of the MCU brand. Sometimes they foreshadow the coming of a new hero, like the discovery of Thor's hammer at the end of "Iron Man 2." Or they tease an ongoing threat, such as Thanos donning the Infinity Gauntlet in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." And sometimes post-credits scenes are included just for fun, like the heroes eating shawarma after the climactic battle of "The Avengers." Many MCU entries are considered among the best post-credits movie scenes of all time.

But with 35 movies in the MCU (and counting), plus numerous canonical television shows and specials, not every post-credits scene pays off. Over the years, some sequences have left us with unanswered questions, revealed abandoned storylines, or hinted at troubled productions behind the scenes. Here are the MCU post-credits scenes that have left audiences hanging.

2016's "Doctor Strange" ends with a startling post-credits scene that sets up a future conflict not only for Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), but for every magic user in the Marvel Universe. But almost 10 years later, that deadly promise has yet to be realized.

Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a sorcerer disillusioned by the Ancient One's (Tilda Swinton) secret connection to the Dark Dimension and the corrupting effects of the mystic arts on the natural world, seeks out the magic user Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt). Mordo drains Pangborn of his magic, leaving him physically paralyzed, and declares that there are "too many sorcerers" in the world.

First appearing in 1963's "Strange Tales" #111, Mordo is one of Doctor Strange's most persistent foes, and the post-credits scene indicates that the MCU's Mordo is well on the path to villainy. But while Chiwetel Ejiofor appeared in the 2022 sequel "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," he played a different Mordo, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth-838. Strange says the Mordo of his world "dedicated his life trying to kill me," but nothing else is mentioned of Mordo's crusade against his fellow sorcerers. Director Sam Raimi revealed in a DVD commentary that an early version of the sequel opened with Mordo's death at the hands of the Scarlet Witch, but the scene was abandoned. For now, Karl Mordo remains trapped in his own dark dimension — cinematic limbo.

Until his death in 2018, a cameo from Marvel mogul Stan Lee was as essential to an MCU film as an after-credits scene. Lee had a walk-on role in every MCU film from 2008's "Iron Man" to a posthumous part in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," always playing a different character — a museum security guard, a barber on Sakaar, and even a man mistaken for Hugh Hefner by Tony Stark.

In 2017, "Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2" featured Lee in a post-credits scene that offered the ultimate pay-off to his many cameos, but raised more questions. Earlier in the film, Rocket and Groot's ship flies past Lee, dressed as an astronaut, recalling his cameo in "Captain America: Civil War" for the Watchers — immortal monitors of the universe co-created by Lee in 1963's "Fantastic Four" #13. After the credits, we return to see the Watchers leaving as Lee insists that he has more stories. Lee has been playing one (apparently omnipresent) character the entire time.

A character who has been secretly watching the events of every film certainly helps tie the MCU together even more. But who exactly is this mysterious informant and what is his mission? Why would the Watchers need him to watch superheroes on Earth when that is their job? Lee's cameo is a special treat for longtime fans, but with Lee having since passed on, any possible follow-up on this puzzling character has been lost among the stars.

Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Venom — Spider-Man's rogues gallery boasts some of the most iconic supervillains in Marvel Comics history. 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming" introduced several more, most notably Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes, the illegal arms dealer known as the Vulture. Vulture's criminal associates were recognizable to longtime Spider-Man fans as Shocker, Tinkerer, Darter, and Scorpion, suggesting the future formation of a supervillain team like the Sinister Six, who first appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man" Annual #1 (1964).

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" ends with Vulture encountering Scorpion (Michael Mando) in prison. Though Scorpion says he has "boys on the outside" who want to kill Spider-Man, Vulture chooses not to reveal that he knows the wall-crawler's secret identity. But whatever future pay-off was intended with this scene, it was derailed by the post-credits scene for a movie about a completely different Spider-Man villain — Morbius. 

The events of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" lead to the Vulture being transported into the reality of the 2022 "Morbius" film, where he encounters Jared Leto's living vampire and suggests they join forces. "Morbius" was a notorious two-time box office bomb, however, leaving Toomes — and any hopes for a Sinister Six team-up — seemingly stranded in another reality.

The MCU has never quite known what to do with Sharon Carter. Debuting in 1966's "Tales of Suspense" #75, Carter, alias Agent 13, is a skilled SHIELD operative and Captain America's on-again, off-again love interest. She is also the grand-niece of Steve Rogers' first love, Peggy Carter — a minor character in the comics whose popularity soared after Hayley Atwell's performance in 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger."

The 2014 sequel "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" introduced Sharon, played by Emily VanCamp, and in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War," she shared a controversial kiss with Steve, with even VanCamp later admitting to Collider that "it didn't totally work." 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" reunited Steve and Peggy, with Sharon existing as a loose end until the 2021 series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."

A fugitive after helping Captain America, Sharon secretly becomes the supervillain known as the Power Broker. The series finale, "One World, One Peace," ends with a mid-credits scene revealing that Sharon plans to take advantage of her recent pardon to sell government secrets, solidifying her turn to the dark side. Sharon has yet to appear again in the MCU, either as Agent 13 or the Power Broker, making this a somewhat bleak end for a character with a rich and heroic comic book history.

The 25^th film in the MCU, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" exemplifies how complex and interconnected the shared universe had become as it entered its fourth phase. The 2021 feature not only introduced audiences to the martial artist Shang-Chi and the mystical dimension of Ta Lo, it tied up lingering plot threads from the first MCU film, "Iron Man," and its second sequel, "Iron Man 3."

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" aims to accomplish a lot in its 132-minute runtime, but it leaves behind two significant loose ends. In the mid-credits scene, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) learn from Wong (Benedict Wong), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) that the mystical Ten Rings are emitting a powerful beacon to an unknown location. This seems like an obvious set-up for a sequel; however, while Simu Liu is reprising his role in 2026's "Avengers: Doomsday," there is no official title or release date for a second "Shang-Chi" solo film, leaving its future uncertain.

The post-credits scene follows Shang-Chi's younger sister Xialing (Meng'er Zhang) as she secretly reforms the Ten Rings terrorist organization that previously captured Tony Stark. The film ends with a title card specifically promising that "The Ten Rings Will Return," but neither Xialing nor her organization have reappeared in an MCU film or television show.

Directed by Academy Award winner Chloe Zhao, "Eternals" was supposed to be the beginning of a brand-new superhero franchise for Marvel Studios. Instead, the critically-lambasted film – the first MCU movie to be officially classified as "rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes – was a narrative dead end, leaving behind a lot of unanswered questions.

In the mid-credits scene, the Eternals are surprised by the arrival of the drunken, teleporting Pip the Troll (Patton Oswalt), who introduces Eros (Harry Styles), the handsome Prince of Titan who is also Thanos's previously unknown brother. The casting of actor-musician Styles as Eros suggests that Zhao had major plans for an "Eternals" sequel, but in July 2024 Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige told Inverse that there were "no immediate plans for 'Eternals 2.'"

The post-credits scene has the misfortune of hinting at a different embattled MCU project. Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) reaches to pick up the cursed Ebony Blade, when a voice off-screen asks if he is ready for it. The voice belongs to an uncredited Mahershala Ali, who was cast as the vampire hunter Blade in 2019 for Marvel's reboot of the popular action-horror franchise. Unfortunately, the new "Blade" film has had numerous production delays, meaning that while Wesley Snipes reprised the New Line Cinema version of Blade in "Deadpool and Wolverine," Mahershala Ali's Blade has yet to make an onscreen appearance in the MCU.

Comic book fans hoping for an onscreen clash between Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Tom Hardy's Venom have a long wait ahead of them. Spider-Man and Venom occupy two distinct cinematic universes owned by two different companies, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures — but they did share the briefest of crossovers.

Following the credits of 2021's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," Venom and Eddie Brock are suddenly transported into the MCU, where they see a television broadcast identifying Spider-Man as Peter Parker. "Spider-Man: No Way Home," released a few months later, revealed that the crossover was the accidental result of one of Doctor Strange's corrupted spells. The mid-credits scene shows Brock and Venom at a bar in Mexico, deciding they should finally talk to Spider-Man — just as the spell is reversed and sends them home. Unknowingly, however, they leave a tiny piece of the living symbiote behind in the MCU.

The fate of the symbiote in the MCU remains unknown, and it seems unlikely that we will see Tom Holland as the symbiote Spider-Man in 2026's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios aside, how would the symbiote make it from Mexico to New York City?

For all his magical might, Doctor Strange cannot seem to conjure up a cliffhanger with an actual cinematic payoff. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," the 2021 sequel to "Doctor Strange," features a mid-credits sequence where the good Doctor is suddenly assailed on the streets of New York City by Clea, a mysterious woman with mystical powers. Clea opens a portal to the Dark Dimension, enticing Strange to join her in fixing an interdimensional incursion.

Played by Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron, Clea first appeared in 1964's "Strange Tales" #126 and is a powerful sorceress and the niece of the evil Dormammu. Strange's longtime love interest and eventual wife, Clea also bore the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme for a time. Clea's debut in "Multiverse of Madness" signals a significant new adventure for Doctor Strange, but while incursions are the biggest threats to the MCU's multiple phase-spanning "Multiverse Saga," neither character has appeared since or been confirmed to feature in an upcoming "Avengers" film.

On the heels of "Eternals" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" comes "Thor: Love and Thunder," another MCU film that ends with a dramatic introduction to a brand-new character — who never appears again.

The fourth "Thor" movie ends with Zeus (Russell Crowe) recovering from his tussle with the God of Thunder in Omnipotence City. Bemoaning the fact that mortals no longer fear the gods and have transferred their love and worship to superheroes, Zeus orders his son Hercules to hunt down and kill Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

Played by "Ted Lasso" star Brett Goldstein, Hercules looks incredibly faithful to his bare-chested, mace-wielding comic counterpart, who first appeared in 1965's "Journey into Mystery" Annual #1. In the comics, the Greek demigod was a frequent rival of Thor's and eventually joined the Avengers. The promise of an onscreen battle between the two heroes has yet to happen, however, and with Hemsworth slated to appear in the upcoming "Avengers: Doomsday," we can guess that Hercules' mission to kill Thor has been so far unsuccessful.

Poor Marc Spector. Marvel's "Moon Knight" miniseries from 2022 follows Spector (Oscar Isaac), a mercenary with dissociative identity disorder, as he becomes the avatar of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham), tries to foil the evil cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), and fights with his anxious alter ego, Steven Grant.

By the final episode, "Gods and Monsters," Spector has defeated Harrow, reconciled with Grant, and rejected Khonshu's path of vengeance. Or so we think, until the mid-credits sequence. An unseen stranger abducts Harrow (now the vessel imprisoning the dangerous goddess Ammit) from a psychiatric hospital into a limousine, where he's greeted by Khonshu. Stating that Spector has "no idea how troubled he really is," Khonshu reveals that his partner is Jake Lockley, a third alter unknown to Spector and Grant, who promptly executes Harrow.

This twist ending has shocking implications for Moon Knight's future. Unlike Spector and Grant, Lockley doesn't hesitate to kill on behalf of an ancient and ruthless moon god. Marc Spector vs. Jake Lockley seems like a perfect premise for a second "Moon Knight" series, though no follow-up has been officially announced. Wherever Spector may be, he is still in Khonshu's thrall.

The 2022 Disney+ series "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" brought metafictional mayhem to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its irreverent mix of action, comedy, and courtroom chaos. The show's many special guest stars were one of the best things about it — Daredevil! The Wrecking Crew! Porcupine! — but the post-credits scene raised questions even as it left us laughing.

In Episode 9, "Whose Show is This?", Emil Blonsky/The Abomination (Tim Roth) peacefully returns to the Supermax prison after violating his parole. The gamma-irradiated inmate does not serve a long sentence, however. His Golden Daggers Club sparring partner Wong breaks him out of prison via an interdimensional portal, and the pair disappear while bantering about Kamar-Taj's Wi-Fi capabilities.

As funny as the scene is, the wider implications of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme breaking former supervillains out of prison are unresolved. Tim Roth does not appear in 2025's "Captain America: Brave New World" alongside his former "The Incredible Hulk" castmates Liv Tyler and Tim Blake Nelson, suggesting that Blonsky is still unaccounted for. Does Kamar-Taj have a "no extradition" policy?

"Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" introduced the world to (at the time) the next big bad of the MCU: Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). One of the most powerful supervillains in Marvel Comics, Kang debuted — as one of his many alter egos, Rama-Tut — in 1963's "Fantastic Four" #19. He was soon established as a multiversal time-traveler whose conquests throughout history have spawned countless alternate versions of himself.

"Quantumania" ends with Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) believing Kang has been destroyed, only for the post-credits scene to reveal the Council of Kangs (all played by Majors) gathering to conquer the multiverse. This was originally the lead-up to what was supposed to be the fifth "Avengers" film, "The Kang Dynasty," which had been announced in 2022. Kang had a big future ahead of him.

But it will never happen. In 2023, Majors was arrested and accused of domestic abuse, and was convicted of reckless assault and harassment later that year. Marvel Studios then fired Majors, scuttling all plans for Kang the Conqueror in the MCU. The fifth Avengers film was retooled, and in 2024 Marvel announced the new title, "Avengers: Doomsday," with Robert Downey Jr. playing the legendary comic book villain Doctor Doom. This monumental shift in the franchise's direction makes "Quantumania" the biggest example yet of an MCU post-credits scene that will never pay off.

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James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy concludes on a rather definitive note for the ragtag team of alien misfits, with the Guardians going their separate ways and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) visiting Earth to reunite with his grandfather. The mid-credits and post-credits scenes, however, leave the door open for sequels that may or may not ever materialize.

First, the mid-credits scene establishes a new Guardians of the Galaxy team, led by Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), that includes a now fully-grown Groot (Vin Diesel), Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Cosmo (Maria Bakalova), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), and Phyla-Vell (Kai Zen). The post-credits scene returns to Star-Lord, now enjoying a mundane breakfast with his grandfather (Gregg Henry). This would be a touching final scene, but Marvel then promises that "The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return." Being back on his home planet puts Star-Lord back in the orbit of earthly heroes like the Avengers, but no future project starring either the new Guardians team or Star-Lord has been announced.

"The Marvels" holds the dubious honor of being the lowest-grossing film in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. The 2023 sequel to "Captain Marvel" (also building on the events of the "WandaVision" and "Ms. Marvel" television shows), "The Marvels" was a box office bomb, leaving the cinematic futures of its three heroines in doubt. The film's post-credits scene occupies an unusual space on this list: while it's one of the most significant ending teasers in the MCU — introducing a major narrative turning point that will pay off in "Avengers: Doomsday" — two of the featured heroes won't be in it.

Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Paris) sacrifices herself at the end of "The Marvels" to seal a cosmic tear between realities. Following the credits, Monica awakens in the parallel universe, where she meets a variant of her late mother Maria (Lashana Lynch) — known here as the superheroine Binary — as well as the mutant X-Man Beast (Kelsey Grammar). Grammar has been confirmed to appear in "Avengers: Doomsday," one of several returning stars from the Fox X-Men films. Notably not included on the cast list for "Avengers: Doomsday" are Paris and Lynch. Will the box office failure of "The Marvels" cut Monica and Maria's cross-dimensional family reunion short?

To be fair, Marvel fans watching "Deadpool and Wolverine" should probably not expect to see a traditional MCU post-movie teaser. After all, the first "Deadpool" post-credits scene in 2016 poked fun at the audience by parodying "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," even as Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) revealed that the Marvel superhero Cable would appear in the sequel.

The 2024 threequel "Deadpool and Wolverine" ends on a similarly funny note, with a perfect callback to an earlier joke. Deadpool appears in the Time Variance Authority headquarters and plays a recording for the audience, proving he was not responsible for the hilariously gruesome death of Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) in the Void.

Deadpool then walks off screen. Is he still at TVA headquarters? How did he get there? How will the TVA play into the events of "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars," if the timeline-saving organization even appears at all? And will Deadpool ever join the Avengers? Okay, perhaps we're not meant to examine this scene too closely, but the dangling possibilities of Deadpool continuing to wreak havoc in the TVA are endless.