Marvel (the Disney portion of it, anyway) has perfected the art of the post-credits scene. When people leave the theater before the credits stop rolling on any of the Avengers properties, you know they’re doing it wrong. The other factions of Marvel (Fox’s X-Men and Sony’s Spider-Man) have tried following suit, and to some extent even succeeded. It’s just a little more difficult when you only own one property, as opposed to the many that make up The Avengers.
You would think that these properties would use their post-credits scene to prop up future events in their own timeline. For example, the post-credits scene of The Wolverine was a pump-up piece for X-Men: Days of Future Past. The last Amazing Spider-Man movie teased the appearance of the Green Goblin. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is supposed to be building towards a potential Sinister Six movie, so you think that one of them would show up in the post-credits scene, right?
Wrong. According to those who have seen the movie overseas, the post-credits scene isn’t promoting anything Spider-Man. Instead, it’s a clip straight from X-Men: Days of Future Past– a film from an entirely different studio and Marvel franchise! But don’t get too excited– this isn’t build-up to a crossover between the X-Men and your favorite webslinger. This is just a straight promotional clip, and probably part of the contract that Marc Webb has with Fox that allows him to hop over to Sony to make these Spider-Man films.
While I know this is just a straight business deal, I’m a little upset. Post-credits scenes are supposed to be secret Easter eggs that help build a universe and give the loyal audiences a treat. Why should I stay for footage that I’ll be able to see, in context, just two weeks after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 airs? If you’re not going to tease something new or mysterious in your post-credits scene, don’t trick the audience into staying.
