By now, you likely know that Justice League has not one but two scenes that arrive after the credits start rolling, but are they worth sticking around for? The DC Extended Universe got off to a fairly rough start with its first three films, and after having seemingly righted the ship with its fourth entry, Wonder Woman, it’s now found itself back on shaky ground. Justice League is dividing the critical community; some love it, others absolutely hate it. Nailing down any sort of critical consensus may be an impossible task in itself.
Unlike the films you'll find over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU films haven't typically been capped off with mid or post-credits scenes. (The lone exception, Suicide Squad, featured a mid-credits scene between Bruce Wayne and Amanda Waller.) Director Zack Snyder even revealed that he'd previously viewed these button scenes as a Marvel thing. But the times are a changin', and Justice League features a pair of bonus scenes, one of which looks to be teasing a future DCEU team-up and another that serves as an ideal encapsulation of the shared universe's new policy that fun is actually allowed.
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Contrary to the button scenes of Thor: Ragnarok (where the mid-credits scene teased the next adventure and the post-credits sequence was fan service fun), Justice League's second extra scene is the one that sets up the next step of the DCEU, while the mid-credits sequence is a wink and nod to the comic readers in the audience. We're obviously not going to give away either reveal here, but we will say this: if you're remotely invested in the future of the DCEU -- hell, even if you aren't -- they're definitely worth sticking around for.
In regards to the post-credits scene, the most interesting thing to keep your eye on will be whether or not it'll actually pan out. The future of the DCEU has so much riding on Justice League, and the possibility remains that the less than glowing reviews could end up shooting this shared universe in the foot. A mind-boggling box office take could render the critical consensus completely irrelevant, of course, but Warner Bros. is almost certainly going to be thinking twice about where to go from here.
In fact, the fan base's reaction to Justice League's post-credits scene could end up being a particularly significant factor in WB's decision. Are the DCEU faithful pumped up by what they saw? Are they excited to see how the fallout from the sequence plays out on the big screen? If the scene receives the same sort of mixed response that Justice League itself has gotten, this shared universe could see even more major shakeups in the very near future -- shakeups that would likely disavow the sequence entirely in favor of a whole new direction.
