Marvel Post-Credits Scenes That Have Yet to Lead Anywhere

For 18 years, Marvel Studios has cared about the continuity of its ongoing mega-story as much as the content of any single superhero film. The 23-film Infinity Saga built toward Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The two-part blockbuster event brought the entire sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe together for one grand battle royale.

The Infinity Saga wrapped with 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. After that, Marvel needed a new central organizing idea to give all the crossovers, cataclysmic conflicts, and multiverse mayhem some meaning. The process has been bumpy. It has left Marvel with loose ends, hints, and promises of sagas to come, and they are hard to keep track of.

Maybe you have wondered what happened to Charlize Theron’s character in that one Doctor Strange movie. Maybe you have asked yourself, Wait, Harry Styles was in a Marvel movie? Here is a rundown of the cliffhangers and post-credits sequences that Marvel hasn’t fully paid off yet.

18. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The cliffhanger: Shang-Chi is recruited by Wong and the Ten Rings are reborn

In a mid-credits scene, Wong summons Shang-Chi/Shaun (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) to Kamar-Taj. Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers join them by hologram, and the group discusses the origins of Shang-Chi’s superpowered rings. According to the Avengers, the rings are an ancient beacon sending an unknown message to an unknown recipient.

A post-credits scene shows Shaun’s sister, Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), as the new leader of the Ten Rings organization, even though she had said she would disband it. She is modernizing the group and making it gender-inclusive.

The eventual payoff

Director Destin Daniel Cretton is said to be working on a sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. But he has been busy with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and has a Naruto movie to make. Simu Liu is confirmed to reprise his role as Shang-Chi in Avengers: Doomsday in 2026. Nobody knows yet who or what the magical rings are calling out to. (Fin Fang Foom, perhaps?)

17. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The cliffhanger: Two Captains America

The new Captain America of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), loses his title after a botched mission. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly the Falcon, becomes the new Captain America. Walker gets a new costume and a new identity, the U.S. Agent, thanks to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

The other cliffhanger: Ex-SHIELD agent Sharon Carter is up to no good

During the series, Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) turns out to have gone from SHIELD super-spy to the mysterious Power Broker. In the end, the U.S. government pardons her for crimes committed during Captain America: Civil War and offers her a position at the CIA. A later scene shows her discussing the sale of government secrets, weapons, and technology, which is classic Power Broker business.

The eventual payoff

Sam Wilson’s new role as Captain America was explored in Captain America: Brave New World. The film co-stars Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s Leader. By Thunderbolts*, Sam is the official and only Captain America. Walker no longer seems to operate as “U.S. Agent” and is now a merc with a shield and no official government identity. The end of that movie also shows Sam’s “new Avengers” and Walker’s “new Avengers” dueling for the name, so the question of who keeps it is still open.

As for the Power Broker, does anyone care that much? One thing is certain: Sam Wilson and James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes will return in Avengers: Doomsday.

16. Eternals

The cliffhanger: Harry Styles is Thanos’ brother, and is that Blade?

The ending of Eternals exposes the people of Earth to Celestials. A giant marble Tiamut hand and head still stick out of the Indian Ocean. Thena (Angelina Jolie), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), and Druig (Barry Keoghan) travel through space in search of other Eternals. Along the way, two newcomers to the MCU board their ship, Domo. One is Eros (aka Starfox), the brother of Thanos, played by Harry Styles. The other is Pip the Troll, voiced by Patton Oswalt. Eros warns Thena that her friends “are in big trouble” and offers to help find them.

In a post-credits scene, Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) opens a mysterious box that holds the Ebony Blade. Off-screen, Marvel’s vampire-hunter Blade (Mahershala Ali) asks, “You sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”

The eventual payoff

The final scenes of Eternals strongly hint at more adventures for the ancient superheroes. The film still ended up among the worst-rated Marvel Studios releases to date. Marvel has no sequel on its current list of announced projects, though director Chloé Zhao has said she would return for a follow-up.

The post-credits scene sets up Whitman to become the superhero known as Black Knight. In Marvel Comics, Black Knight has been a member of the Avengers, and the character has roots in Arthurian legend, which would be a whole new thing for the MCU. Black Knight and his Ebony Blade were presumably meant to be part of Marvel’s stand-alone Blade movie, which is now all but dead. Mahershala Ali and Kit Harington seemingly have no plans to return to the MCU.

15. Spider-Man: No Way Home

The cliffhanger: The world has forgotten Peter Parker and the MCU gets a drip of Venom

Doctor Strange and Peter Parker royally screwed things up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the fix involved a big mindwipe. Now no one in the MCU knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. In fact, no one knows who Peter Parker is, so he has to start his superhero life from scratch. He has no fancy nanotech suit, no friends or family, and not even a high school diploma. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has since explored that change fully, with Peter reckoning with his choice in No Way Home.

A post-credits sequence in No Way Home shows another effect of Strange’s messy multiverse manipulations. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his symbiote pal Venom enjoy a brief vacation on Earth-199999, the core MCU reality. Strange’s spell eventually sends Eddie and Venom home, but a tiny piece of the symbiote stays behind.

The eventual payoff

Spider-Man: Brand New Day reintroduces Peter Parker to a handful of people who have forgotten him, namely MJ and Ned Leeds. The forgetting seems permanent so far. An elaborate handshake between Peter and Ned leaves Ned’s recollection open to interpretation.

Will the MCU get its own version of the Spider-Man black suit saga and its own Venom? The stray symbiote goo from No Way Home makes it possible. Tom Hardy is reportedly done playing Venom. He has said he would return if he got to play opposite Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, though he has also said that movie has already fallen apart in planning once. Spider-Man: Brand New Day didn’t address the black symbiote goo at all, though a post-credits scene in the film leaves the possibility open.

14. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The cliffhanger: Stephen Strange gets another eye, Clea joins the MCU

Strange develops a spooky third eye after using the Darkhold. Then the sorceress Clea (Charlize Theron) approaches him on the street. She warns him that his actions have triggered an incursion, and he needs to fix it. Strange follows Clea into the Dark Dimension, home of the Doctor Strange villain Dormammu, who is also Clea’s uncle.

The eventual payoff

Stephen Strange and Clea are an on-again, off-again couple in Marvel comics, so a future cinematic and romantic team-up seems likely. Multiverse of Madness also introduced America Chavez to MCU lore, and she looks like a natural fit for a future Young Avengers project (more on that later).

13. Moon Knight

The cliffhanger: This is getting out of hand. Now there are three of them

The mid-credits scene of Moon Knight reveals a secret the show teased throughout its six episodes. Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) and Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) are not the only people in their head. A third personality, Jake Lockley (Oscar Isaac), exists without either of them knowing. Khonshu still has influence over Jake and has Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) murdered in the back of a limousine. Since the god Ammit is inside Arthur, that presumably means the end of Ammit, too. Jake and Khonshu drive off, hinting at further adventures for Moon Knight.

The eventual payoff

Marvel hasn’t confirmed a second season of Moon Knight, and at this stage it doesn’t seem likely. The character could still show up in future Marvel projects. He looks like a good fit for the mystical and horror side of the MCU, which has been explored in Werewolf by Night and Agatha All Along. It would be a shame not to bring back Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight and May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly/Scarlet Scarab.

12. Thor: Love and Thunder

The cliffhanger: Love and Hercules

Thor now has an adopted daughter who wields Stormbreaker. The fourth Thor movie also introduces a whole bunch of gods. Zeus (Russell Crowe) sends his son Hercules (Brett Goldstein) on a quest to kill Thor.

The eventual payoff

Thor 5? Maybe. Chris Hemsworth seems willing to do more Thor, as long as the next movie is “unpredictable.” Taika Waititi directed Ragnarok and Love and Thunder. He has said he was surprised to see the “Thor will return” text at the end of Love and Thunder, but he would consider coming back for a particularly “surprising and unexpected” story with the hero. Marvel can’t just tease Brett Goldstein as Hercules, a member of multiple teams in Marvel comics including the Avengers, and then do nothing with him.

Hemsworth is confirmed to return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, as is Thor’s daughter. Whether Goldstein’s Hercules will join him is unknown.

11. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

The cliffhanger: Hulk has a kid and the Abomination escapes

Jennifer Walters gets her season-finale rewrite and ends She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in a pretty good spot.

Her cousin Bruce Banner, the Hulk, also turns out to have a kid. While on Sakaar, either during or before the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Hulk got someone pregnant. In the comics, that would be the alien Caiera. The result is Skaar, as in Skaar from Sakaar. Wong also pops up again, this time with a portal that yeets Emil Blonsky (aka the Abomination) out of his supermax prison cell and straight to Kamar-Taj.

The eventual payoff

More She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is almost certainly off the table. Series star Tatiana Maslany says Marvel has passed on continuing the series. Skaar could show up again, possibly as a Young Avenger. It’s unclear where Abomination will end up, but he seems like a good fit for a future Hulk movie. There are quite a few Hulks now. Maybe Wong and Blonsky will just host a rewatch podcast of The Sopranos.

10. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The cliffhanger: Black Panther will return

The closing credits of Wakanda Forever state “Black Panther will return.” Who will carry the mantle remains to be seen. The mid-credits sequence introduces the late T’Challa’s son with Nakia, born in secret. That scene may be less a tease for a future Black Panther sequel than a heartfelt nod to the late Chadwick Boseman and the original version of Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole’s story. Coogler and Cole first envisioned the sequel as a father-son adventure in which “T’Challa has to go save the world with his son on his hip,” Coogler told the New York Times in 2022.

The eventual payoff

Black Panther 3 is happening. Letitia Wright will return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, and a third Black Panther movie is coming. T’Challa’s son will eventually become the new Black Panther, played by David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus, The Long Walk).

9. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The cliffhanger: Ant-Man kills Kang, and everything is fine. Maybe.

Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) gets sucked into a power core and dies, which potentially ushers in something cataclysmic. A mid-credits scene reveals the disaster to be the Council of Kangs (Jonathan Majors). Hundreds of Kang variants, led by Immortus (Jonathan Majors), hoot and holler and froth at the mouth as they prepare for multiversal domination.

The eventual payoff

That is the big question. Kang was positioned as the Thanos-sized villain of Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga. He was even getting his own Avengers movie, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. A lot has changed since. Marvel dropped Majors after a jury found him guilty on assault and harassment charges. The Kang-led multiversal problem also appears to have been pretty neatly nipped in the bud during season 2 of Loki.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has since been reworked and retitled Avengers: Doomsday. Victor Von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) takes over as the main antagonist of the fifth Avengers film. Like the big teases in Eternals, the Kang variants look like a dead end, and Marvel may just try to forget it ever happened.

Source: Polygon