Why Avengers: Endgame Broke Marvel 21-Movie Post Credits Scene Streak

Marvel is making history with Avengers: Endgame. Not only is this one of the most highly anticipated superhero movies to ever debut, it’s also the end of more than a decade of planning and build up. Avengers: Endgame is the final film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Three, ushering in a new era of unknown superhero movies coming next. But the movie took things one step further to make history yet again: Avengers: Endgame is first MCU film without post-credits scenes at all (it's also the only MCU movie without one). But there's a pretty good reason why.

Well, not anymore. The past 21 MCU movies, from the first Iron Man all the way to the recently-released Captain Marvel, have all featured at least one additional scene during the credits sequence, while some have had two. (Thor: The Dark World was the first MCU film to have more than one credits scene and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has the most to date with five — read it: five — extra scenes during the credits.) These extra scenes either teased upcoming MCU films or featured a funny joke or callback to the previous movie. Some were serious and others ridiculous. But Avengers: Endgame is the very MCU film to end before the credits with nothing coming after except a light tease that should give all Marvel fans a nice chuckle after three whole hours of emotional highs and lows.

In lieu of a post-credits scene, the credits end with the sounds of a hammer hitting metal ring out — a cruel tease to theatergoers all around the world, some of whom definitely thought a scene was coming. Unfortunately, the Marvel Studios logo appears and it's really over. As for that metal clanging sound? It’s a callback to when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) hammered away his first Iron Man suit all the way back in the very first MCU movie, kicking off the entire franchise.

The lack of an extra scene might make some fans wish for more, but it's an appropriate way to officially end Phase Three. The credits sequence is truly the end of the story, the period at the end of the sentence. It sends off the original Avengers in style, thanking them for over a decade of service with this franchise.

And for some, like Iron Man/Tony Stark and Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), this is the final time they’ll be seen on the big screen as their characters were given the swan song they deserved (though Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow also died in Endgame, she reportedly has another movie in development). Yes, there are other characters still alive by the end of the movie and with more movies planned in the future, when the next phase of the MCU begins, but Avengers: Endgame lets the story speak for itself. It was a huge end point and it doesn’t actually need to tease anything coming next.

Plus, there's the most important reason to not have a post-credits on Endgame: the movie is three hours long, and most audiences waited that entire time for the chance to finally go to the bathroom. So, if you think about it, no post-credits scene is the biggest blessing of all.