It might be a long wait for the sequels of your favorite movies, but the scenes right before or after the credits roll may reveal interesting twists for the sequel. Many movies -- coming from Marvel, DC, Universal, and beyond -- used the end of their movies in order to hide teases for the future of the series.
How does It set up its sequel? What does the ending of The Mummy reveal about the future of the Dark Universe? How do the multitude of Marvel post-credits scenes tie together and reveal the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Although some of the teasers in the scenes are obvious to a fan in the know, they have far-reaching and underlying implications for the future of the film series. These shadowy figures and casually dropped foreshadowing lines that run through post-credit scenes can say a lot about how the plot will move forward in the sequel, and some reveal characters that viewers can expect to see in future movies-- both beloved main characters and familiar love-to-hate antagonists.
Of course, major spoiler alert for all of the listed films, and possible spoiler alerts for all of their sequels.
With that out of the way, here are the 15 Hidden Spoilers You Completely Missed At The End Of Movies.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The long-awaited sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was followed up by a record number of post-credits scenes, and a few of these have far-reaching implications based on their comic book counterparts.
After Sylvester Stallone's Stakar Ogard first appeared in Vol. 2, he decides to reunite his old team, including Martinex, Charlie-27, Aleta Ogord, Mainframe, and Krugarr. This is the original Guardians team, and director James Gunn has teased that fans may see this team again in the future, though plans are still uncertain.
Another end-credits scene may have even more drastic consequences in future movies. With Ayesha and the Sovereign defeated at the end of Vol. 2, they begin to question their infallibility.
In one of the final scenes, Ayesha tells her handmaiden that she is creating a being more perfect than herself. She calls him "Adam," and this likely refers to Adam Warlock. Adam Warlock is one of Thanos' enemies in the comics, and Warlock even obtains an Infinity Stone. Although Warlock is not planned to be in Infinity War, he may play a major role in the future MCU.
It
The 2017 adaption of Stephen King's It has become an instant hit with Bill Skarsgard's terrifying portrayal of Pennywise the Clown. In It, the children of Derry, Maine are terrorized by an ancient malevolent being who has taken the form of Pennywise.
In the end, the children band together and defeat Pennywise, but the problem is more complicated. Pennywise is a shapeshifter who returns every 27 years to prey on children. Pennywise could be defeated for good, or he may have simply left to plan his return.
The film ends with an ominous tease of the future: "Chapter One." The credits end with the sound of Pennywise's laughter, teasing that he is still alive, but how will Pennywise return? The sequel will reportedly focus more on the character and origins of Pennywise, so more answers may be in store.
Transformers: The Last Knight
The latest addition to the Transformers series introduced Quintessa, the creator of the Tranformers and one of the prior inhabitants of Cybertron before the bots threw them out. During the final showdown, Quintessa seems to be killed, but the post-credits scene reveals that this is not quite true. Instead, she shows up in a human form at a science outpost inspecting a horn sticking out of the earth, telling a man there that the horn is Unicron, and she can show him how to kill him.
During The Last Knight, Optimus Prime was brainwashed by Quintessa and sent on a mission to kill Unicron, a planet-sized transformer revealed to be Earth. The transformers are eventually able to stop the Earth from being destroyed by Cybertron, their original home planet, but apparently Quintessa's plan is not over.
This indicates a switch in Transformers lore. Unicron is usually a villain of the Transformers universe, but making Unicron Earth indicates that either Unicron will be a force of good or Quintessa's plan is not entirely in the wrong.
Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World teamed up Thor and his Asgardian allies against the new threat of Malekith. After their victory, they bring the Infinity Stone that Malekith was after to The Collector.
They explain that they cannot keep the Infinity Stone in Asgard because the Tesseract is already in Odin's trophy room, and it would be unwise to keep two Infinity Stones in the same place. As they leave, The Collector says, "One down, five to go."
This has drastic implications for Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos is set to be the antagonist of the latest Avengers movie, and he is obsessed with collecting the Infinity Stones and attaching them to the Infinity Gauntlet for its incredible power. This means that the Tesseract and the infinity stone from Dark World will factor into Infinity War, and The Collector may be in league with Thanos.
Logan
Logan brought Wolverine's journey through the X-Men saga to a decisive end. In the course of protecting mutants from X-24, Logan is killed with a tone of finality, bringing his story a close.
At the end, X-23 -- the little girl and killing machine that Logan was protecting -- visits his grave and turns the cross on his grave into an X. While also bringing tears to the eyes of the audience, this reveals something about the future of the X-Men.
Logan tries to exist outside of the new timeline set out by the First Class series, but a tease of the future can still be gleaned from this ending. Since X-23 is still alive, there have been rumors of a possible spinoff revolving around her.
However, this also reveals the general trend of moving away from the old stars of X-Men to fresh characters and actors. Other projects in the future include an X-Men: Apocalypse follow-up reportedly focusing on Jean Grey, a Gambit film, and a film introducing the band of New Mutants.
Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island offers a new take on the classic story of King Kong, but Kong is not the only monster in this universe to worry about. It is set in the same universe as the 2014 adaption of Godzilla, and the end-credits scene offers a glimpse of where this universe will take viewers in the future.
At the end of Kong, James Conrad and Mason Weaver finds themselves in an interrogation room, held by Monarch, the same organization that kept the existence of Godzilla a secret in the 2014 film. Houston Brooks and Sam Ling enter and explain to them that Kong is not the only monster they need to worry about, showing them cave paintings of a variety of monsters.
These paintings show not only Godzilla, but also Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. After this reveal, the movie ends to the sound of Godzilla's roar. This scene places King Kong in the universe for the upcoming movies Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019 and Godzilla vs. Kong in 2020.
The Mummy (2017)
The 2017 remake of the classic The Mummy is set to launch Universal's Dark Universe, a series of movies based around the iconic movie monsters that built the Universal franchise. As such, it was surprising that it did not include a post-credits scene to tease the next movie -- a move that the director chose to avoid copying from Marvel's successful formula. Instead, the Dark Universe is teased in subtler ways throughout the movie's ending.
Dr. Jekyll seems set to be the series tie-together, much like Nick Fury was for the Avengers. He introduces Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) to a secret organization dedicated to fighting evil beings like the Mummy. Dr. Jekyll drops the idea that the only way to defeat evil is to use monsters to fight monsters. In a dramatic twist at the ending, Nick stabs himself with the magical dagger of Set, giving himself the power of the Mummy.
Dr. Jekyll teases the future of the Dark Universe: monster vs. monster battling for the greater good, and this may not be the last we see of the Mummy.
Ghostbusters (2016)
The 2016 Ghostbusters remake featured an all-female cast saving New York from destruction by supernatural forces. Afterwards, in a post-credits scene, the Ghostbusters team is listening to audio recordings on their new equipment when Patty (Leslie Jones) takes off her headphones and says, "What is Zuul?"
In the original Ghostbusters, Zuul was a minion of the malevolent Gozer the Gozerian. Zuul possessed Dana (Sigourney Weaver) in order to open a portal through which Gozer could invade Earth. It's clear that Zuul is being set up as the intended antagonist of the Ghostbusters sequel.
This adds an interesting dimension, as Zuul can only possess the body of a female according to the mythos about the demigod. This means that the all-female Ghostbusters would be up against a female antagonist or possibly be in danger themselves. However, it is still unclear how this version of Zuul would differ from the plotline of the original 1984 film.
Power Rangers
Saban's 2017 Power Rangers reboot contained a lot of callbacks to the beloved original series while telling a new version of events. One exciting callback and interesting teaser appeared during the credits. As the Power Rangers end up back in detention, there's one student missing on the roll call -- Tommy Oliver, who has a green jacket on his chair in his place.
Fans of the original Power Rangers might find the reveal unsurprising. Tommy Oliver was the closest thing Power Rangers had to a consistent main character, as he popped up over multiple series while every other member of the cast came and went.
He was first introduced in the series as an evil green ranger, brainwashed by Rita Repulsa, a plot point that may remain in the story even with Rita currently out of the picture. Rita was set up as the previous Green Ranger, and her green Power Coin may still be on Earth. Could Tommy be corrupted through the Power Coin?
Some of the cast has also dropped the idea that Tommy could be female in the new movies, which is a possibility since Tommy has yet to appear on-screen.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man: Homecoming reintroduced the fan favorite web-slinging superhero, this time played by Tom Holland. In the movie, Spider-Man faces off against Vulture in an epic showdown, and Spider-Man ensures that the villain is brought to justice.
In the post-credits scene, Vulture is in prison when he is approached by another inmate asking about Spider-Man's identity. Vulture has figured out Peter Parker's identity, but feigns ignorance and denies that he knows.
The scene tells us a lot about Vulture, but may also set up the next movie's antagonist. The other inmate has a clear scorpion tattoo, leading many to speculate he is the familiar Spider-Man villain Scorpion.
Scorpion's powers are similar to Spider-Man's in many ways, including a "scorpion sense" to match Parker's "spider sense." He is also a member of the Sinister Six alongside many other iconic Spider-Man villains. Scorpion would prove a formidable antagonist for the sequel.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The 2016 film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies showed viewers an interesting post-apocalyptic twist on the familiar Jane Austen story, as Lizzie, Darcy, and the rest of the crew had to battle zombies while navigating romance.
The threat wasn't over by the end of movie, though. At the close, the Darcy-Bennet crew sees the approach of zombie George Wickham, who had managed to survive his duel with Darcy. Wickham is accompanied by a zombie army and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The stage is set for a sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but what direction will it take? There are two other books in the source material series, but this ending reveals a probable deviation from the books. The filmmaker also has not ruled out the possibility of introducing characters from other classic novels.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales continues the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, but also heralds the return of main characters Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. Will Turner, missing since the third movie as he was confined to the Dutchman, is finally freed from his curse and able to live on dry land again and return to life with Elizabeth, but something sinister still looms.
The post-credits scene shows Will and Elizabeth asleep when a shadowy figure approaches them. The tentacled shadow and clawed hand leave little doubt that the figure is Davy Jones. Will wakes up, and the figure is gone, but as he nods off again, water and barnacles have appeared on the floor.
The sixth installment of the series likely intends to bring back Davy Jones in some form. This may have to do with breaking the Dutchman's curse, as Davy Jones was also ensnared in it.
X-Men: Apocalypse
X-Men: Apocalypse continues the First Class series, with the X-Men battling the powerful Apocalypse to stop him from destroying the Earth. This is far from the last X-Men story, and the end credits provide a tease of a villain coming in the future.
A mysterious man searches the Weapon X facility where Wolverine was created. The man finds a vial called "Weapon X" and places it in a briefcase marker "Essex Corp." This alludes to notable X-Men villain Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mister Sinister.
In the comic books, Essex is not only immortal and able to regenerate, but has also picked up a slew of other superpowers from telepathy to shapeshifting. Mister Sinister would be a major threat to the X-Men. Essex himself has not yet been introduced, but an offshoot of Essex Corp is behind the dark events of Logan, showing the damage Essex might be able to do in a future movie.
Annabelle: Creation
Annabelle: Creation is the latest installment from the Conjuring universe. This film provides the origin story of the doll Annabelle, possessed by the demon the Ram. The film ends set up for the original Annabelle movie, but the end-credits scene provides a teaser for the next installment from this universe -- the Nun.
The end of Annabelle: Creation shows the spirit of the Nun, the star of the newest film set to premier in 2018. Annabelle: Creation had dropped teasers that the Nun might be in the orphanage along with the Ram.
The teaser also explains that the next movie will take place in the Abbey of St. Carta in 1952, five years before the events of this film. It is still unclear how the Nun will tie in with the nuns running the orphanage in Annabelle: Creation, but there does seem to be a connection.
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke brought the controversial comic issue to the big screen as a dark animated movie. In this R-rated adaption, the Joker comes back on a quest to drive Commissioner Gorden to madness, primarily by shooting and paralyzing his daughter Barbara, also known as Batgirl.
While the comic featured very little of Barbara, the movie expands her role and also involves her in an arguably weird relationship with Batman. At the end, after the Joker's terrifying plan unfolds, the last scene of Barbara shows her becoming Oracle.
Oracle is invaluable to Batman for her intelligence and computer skills, and she is one of DC's most prominent superheroes with a disability. Whereas Batgirl's fate in The Killing Joke has often been criticized as the fridging of an important female character, Oracle has been hailed as an empowered representation, making her addition in any future Batman adaptions an exciting inclusion.
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Can you think of any other movies that have endings which reveal major spoilers for the franchise? Let us know in the comment section!