Warning: MAJOR spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ahead

-

If you've seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, you might be confused by the film's post-credits scenes? It's now common practice to wait through the entire credits of the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe outing for a glimpse of the future or cheeky comic in-joke, even for the most casual audience member. The MCU wasn't the first franchise to reliably use post-credits scenes, but it is the one that popularized it and made them an almost required element of any superhero movie. It's become such a beloved moment that the studio has started mixing things up, offering multiple stingers per movie. Although even by the Marvel's pre-existing standards, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 takes it to the next level.

As previously reported, there are a whopping five post-credits scenes in James Gunn's cosmic sequel (not to mention one deleted post-credits scene). While that may seem like overkill, it's actually rather deftly done in practice, with the sequences perfectly paced alongside the sometimes arduously-long lists of names and offering a nice mixture of the silly and serious; only one is a straight-up tease for a later movie, with the others offering mix of world expansion and simple gags, yet they all still reveal an awful lot about the MCU, both its influences and where it may be heading. Here's a breakdown of what each one means.

The scenes aren't the only fun to be had in the credits, which are chock full of Easter eggs; the main characters all appear in yearbook style photos, joined by the likes of Howard the Duck and Cosmo, with penned graffiti on top; several choice crew names are replaced with "I am Groot"; a dancing first appearance from Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster; the whole thing is scored to David Hasselhoff's "Guardians Inferno" (with the actor even popping up at the end); and, best of all, the "No raccoons or tree creatures were harmed during the making of this film." joke disclaimer from the first film gets an addendum saying "The same cannot be said of the handlers of such raccoons or tree creatures." But now onto the real meat.

  • [valnet-url-page paginated=1 text='Guardians%20of%20the%20Galaxy%20Vol.%202%20Post-Credits%20Scenes'] (View Article on One Page)
  • Kraglin and Yondu's Arrow (This Page)
  • [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Stallone%27s%20Original%20Guardians%20and%20Adam%20Warlock']
  • [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='Teenage%20Groot%20and%20Stan%20Lee']

Scene #1 - Kraglin Learning To Use Yondu's Arrow

Guardians of the Galaxy HD Photo - Michael Rooker as Yondu with Sean Gunn's Kraglin

The first scene technically comes before any actual credits - it plays immediately after the "The Guardians of the Galaxy will return" card - but is clearly not intended to be part of the film itself. Taking the cue from the end of the film where Kraglin is given Yondu's head-fin following the blue toughie's death, it shows Sean Gunn's Ravager trying to control the psychic arrow with mixed results, ultimately accidentally sending it flying straight for Drax, who is quietly working on his swords around the corner.

Ostensibly one of the funnier stingers, this one does serve as a nice call-back to the original film's similarly-positioned mid-credits scene where Drax was likewise interrupted from weapons prep by dancing Baby Groot. More importantly, though, it opens up the possibility of Kraglin playing a larger role in the series going forward, with him learning Yondu's method perhaps setting him up to become part of the main team. He definitely had more of a presence in Vol. 2 than the original and while it was presumed Sean Gunn was in Avengers: Infinity War to serve as Rocket's on-set model, it may be that he's also taking on his other, more standard part too.

Next Page: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Stallone%27s%20Original%20Guardians%20and%20Adam%20Warlock']

Scene #2 - Stallone's Original Guardians

Ever since he was cast there was a lot of excitement over who Sylvester Stallone could be playing in Guardians 2, although few could have predicted how important to the Cosmic MCU arm he'd wind up being; he plays Stakar Ogord, in the comics known as Starhawk, the leader of the original Guardians line-up. Stallone's actual role in the film is rather slight - he's introduced early on as a Ravager leader and returns at the end for Yondu's funeral - but that still brings with it some big reveals; when he appears in the finale, he's flanked by fellow captains Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames) and the female Starhawk (Michelle Yeoh), also members of the classic, year 3000 Guardians.

This little teasing arc is paid off in the second post-credits scene where fans finally get to see the OG Guardians on screen together - along with the two Starhawks and Charlie-27, the team also includes Krugarr and Mainframe (voiced by Miley Cyrus) - deciding they'll reunite in Yondu's memory. Obviously they won't have gone under the Guardians name - that undercuts our main characters' journey - but this confirms the existence of the original group in the MCU and their similarly heroic exploits. It's a neat merging of comic and movie continuities; Yondu was a founding Guardian in print and the film Ravager outfits are directly inspired by the team's initial costume.

While this may at first seem like a simple bit of fan service for pre-2014 Guardians fans, it could wind up having a tangible impact on the story going forward. It had already been hinted before release that Stallone could be back for more and James Gunn has recently said he intends to work Stakar into future movies. How this will work is unclear - it could be just another bit-part - but those comments are sure to start speculation that we'll get the two Guardians groups fighting alongside each other in Vol. 3. And if that does happen, then it'll make this scene one of the most important Marvel have ever produced.

Scene #3 - Adam Warlock

Adam Warlock Wearing the Infinity Gauntlet in Marvel Comics

Out of all the stingers, this is the one with the most direct future impact. After her humiliating defeat by the Guardians (who managed to swat away her fleet of ships while also taking down Ego), we see a dishevelled Ayesha sat on her own. A fellow Sovereign approaches and tells her the council is waiting to dress her down for her failure before noticing a birthing pod. Ayesha reveals it contains the next step in their evolution, a powerful, beautiful being that she has created to destroy the Guardians and has named "Adam". Yes, Adam Warlock is finally coming to the MCU.

Adam Warlock is one of the most well-known characters from the Cosmic Marvel Universe: an artificially-created perfect being who serves as a powerful galactic protector. Over a series of iterations in the comics, he's both served with the Guardians of the Galaxy and been a key combatant against Thanos. Those two factors (especially the latter - he had an essential role to play in Infinity Gauntlet, the arc that is to some degree inspiring Avengers: Infinity War) have meant Warlock's big screen arrival has been expected for a long time. It was for a while thought his pod was in The Collector's museum in the original Guardians of the Galaxy and he actually almost appeared in Vol. 2, but this finally establishes him as a part of the world and preps him for an expected appearance in Vol. 3. He's likely to sit out fighting Thanos, however, due to the MCU timeline and the fact that part of his role - he had the Soul Gem in his forehead - has been given to Vison.

The big question the scene poses is what role Adam will play. The product of Ayesha's genetic tampering, in the MCU he's been made to stop the Guardians, setting him up as a potential villain. Of course, this was how the comic version was first conceived, and that did not end well for those particular scientists.

Next Page: [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='Teenage%20Groot%20and%20Stan%20Lee']

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - Baby Groot

Scene #4 - Teenage Groot

The fourth scene is another overtly comedic one that introduces a new version of everyone's favorite tri-syllabic tree creature: Teenage Groot. Quill comes into the growing Groot's room and immediately fills the parent role, complaining about the mess - he's shedding vines everywhere - and bemoaning the game that his ward's playing.

It's a typically James Gunn play on the growing Groot concept, but beyond a quick laugh does serve as an in-movie representation of the passage of time between Vol. 2 and the Guardians' next appearance in Avengers: Infinity War. Because Guardians 2 was set only a few months after the first (a decision made in the first place to allow for Baby Groot), that means there's going to be a four-year gap between the new film and the 2018 team-up, in which time Groot is sure to have grown. Whether that's his old self, a moody teenager or a different form entirely is unknown, but, regardless, he'll hopefully then have a little more respect for his "elder", Star-Lord.

Although this scene does mark the end of Baby Groot, it simultaneously brings up new opportunities; while there was a thematic purpose to the small character (his size is used as a parallel for Yondu's fake explanation for not delivering Peter to Ego), between the Mr. Blue Sky opening (the film's best scene) and his various vignettes throughout the film, it seems like the idea's been fully explored. Indeed, Groot didn't have a clear arc like the rest of the team, something a later movie is sure to want to have.

Scene #5 - The Watchers Have Enough of Stan Lee

Uatu The Watcher

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 features what is possibly the best Stan Lee cameo yet - as Rocket and Yondu jet from stargate to stargate trying to get to Ego's planet, they pass by a trio of Watchers listening to the ramblings of the famed Marvel writer and creator of a litany of iconic characters (including Groot). This moment is returned to in the last, actually post-credits sting where the giant-headed beings have finally had enough and walk away from Lee, who pleads with them that he's "got more stories".

It's always great to see Stan the Man pop up, so getting two moments is automatically double the fun, but this one is particularly exciting as it explicitly tips the hat to a popular fan theory that across all his MCU cameos he's actually playing Uatu, the Watcher. The Watchers are the oldest species in the universe, higher-level extra-terrestrials who monitor all life and catalogue everything that has ever happened. The theory is that Lee has been one of these beings all along, although the appearance alongside comic-accurate Watchers jokingly suggests he's one of their compatriots (he's credited in the film as "The Watchers’ Informant").

The post-credits scene is really a further subversion of the already-subversive cameo, saying that while Lee could be some greater being and offers knowledge of The Avengers, he's of such insignificance that even the all-seeing Watchers have lost interest. And, of course, his "more stories" is a cheeky wink to the sheer number of characters he created in the 1960s.

Update: There was actually a 6th post-credits scene but it was cut. Here's why.

Next: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Spoilers Discussion

Key Release Dates