At this point, there are certain expectations for a Marvel Cinematic Universe post-credits scene. A few of them are just last-minute buttons on a joke from the movie, like The Avengers‘ wordless shawarma eating sceneor the giant ant playing drums after Ant-Man and the WaspBut most are designed to shift the focus from the movie you’re currently watching to the next planned film in Marvel Studios’ lineup, with a sort of teaser for what’s to come.
Considering all the cameos, references, and future teasers in Deadpool and WolverineFans may be expecting a post-credits scene that will give a sneak peek of Deadpool4 or a Deadpool and Wolverine 2. You might think you’re getting a taste of the first full MCU X-Men film, given the way Marvel has used multiverse shenanigans to ease the X-Men into the universe since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, the franchise’s former home. Or maybe you’re expecting a teaser for Sheet, Captain America: Brave New Worldor another film yet to be released in the MCU Phase Five roster.
Deadpool and Wolverine goes in a different direction, more in line with the two Deadpool films Ryan Reynolds made before Disney gained control of the character rights in its acquisition of Fox. The first Death Pole spent his post-credits scene on a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tributealbeit with a small hint that Cable would be part of the Deadpool2 story. And Deadpool2 has no post-credits scene at all, just a mid-credits montage of time-travel antics.
So let’s talk about what’s in there and what’s not. Deadpool and Wolverine‘s mid-credits and end credits, and what it says about the future of the Deadpool franchise.
Does Deadpool & Wolverine Have a Post-Credits Scene?
Sure, but it’s not a sequel teaser of any kind — it’s a flashback, not a flashback. The post-credits scene builds on an earlier scene in the film, revealing that one of Deadpool’s most surprising acts in the film wasn’t as callous and murderous as it seemed. (He’s still a brutal bastard, but that’s nothing new.)
(Editorial note: (Warning: This article contains major spoilers.)
What happens in the post-credits scene of Deadpool & Wolverine?
Photo: Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios
Somewhere around the middle of Deadpool and Wolverinethe two title characters (played by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman) end up in The Void, the Time Variance Authority’s dimensional garbage dump from the Loki TV series. Along with several characters from the X-Men roster, they encounter Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four, played by Chris Evans in Tim Story’s 2005 film.
They are all captured by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the powerfully psychic and psychotic twin sister of Professor Xavier. Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, immediately begins to curse at her, claiming that Johnny has said all sorts of blasphemous things about her, including that she is a “megalomaniac psychotic motherfucker” who can “lick my fucking cinnamon ring clean and kick rocks all the way to barren hell.” As Johnny nervously protests that he never said any of that, Cassandra responds by psychically ripping his skin off and killing him in a comically grotesque manner. Wolverine spends the rest of the film blaming Deadpool for recklessly having Johnny killed.
In the post-credits scene, Deadpool denies the “absolutely disgusting rumors that I had Johnny killed,” and shows footage from the scene we didn’t see the first time, in which Johnny actually says all those things. And he adds, “I don’t give a fuck if they peel all my skin off and smash me to pieces like a nightmarish blood balloon! If the last thing I do with this godforsaken sperm-chute existence is set that fuck-box on fire, then still won’t die happy. That’s right Wade, I won’t be happy until I’ve peed on her freshly barbecued corpse and scrunched the charred remains while gargling Juggernaut’s jugger-nuts. And you can quote me.”
The entire scene is largely just a joke about Evans’ immaculate MCU persona when he played Captain America — the man who refused to swear and protested in nearly a dozen MCU films (“Language!”) when other people do. It’s also meant to at least partially vindicate Wade and make him seem a little less nonchalantly guilty of Johnny’s death. But come on, man, everyone knows snitching gets stitches.
What happens in the mid-credits scene of Deadpool & Wolverine?
Deadpool and WolverineThe credits scenes of his not all about watching chris evans drop f-bombs: a mid-credits montage set to Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” goes for seriousness, combining behind-the-scenes footage and interviews from all corners of 20th Century Fox’s Marvel Comics films.
Emphasis on ‘every angle’. The clips include moments from classics such as Logan and the 2000 X-Menbut give them the same weight as images of bombs like Electricity and the 2015 Fantastic four. And there’s a special focus on Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds behind the scenes in their respective first Marvel films, X-Men And X-Men Origin: Wolverine. These clips feature some truly passionate moments, full of smiling, famous faces who are in some cases 25 years younger than we’re used to. It’s a testament to the human artists behind these IP behemoths, a welcome touch of sincerity after Deadpool and Wolverine spent much of their running time mocking, wallowing in, and referring back to (or even continuing) their work.
It’s hard to see the montage as anything other than a farewell to 20th Century Fox’s Marvel productions.
What does that mean for Deadpool 4?
Image: Marvel Studios
It is remarkable that Deadpool and Wolverine doesn’t end with “Deadpool and Wolverine will return,” Marvel Studios’ usual closing line. And while we don’t know much about what the company has planned for its mutant characters going forward, it doesn’t appear that Deadpool is part of those plans — at least not at this point.
While Marvel Studios has begun teasing mutant characters in the MCU and parallel universe, particularly in Ms Marvel And The miraclesThe company is still in the early stages of a full-length film intro for the X-Men. Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) is currently planning to write one, but no director has been attached yet — or at least Marvel hasn’t announced one at the time of publication.
And despite Deadpool and Wolverine‘s jokes about Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine until he’s 90, Jackman is no longer under contract for any films, as far as we know. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has made it pretty clear that the plan is to make the mutants of the MCU distinguished from those of 20th Century Fox.
Considering how good Deadpool and Wolverine is a trending topic in early box office sales, there’s always a chance that Deadpool will simply become too profitable for Disney to not continue his story in a cinematic form. But for the moment, at least, Deadpool and Wolverine seems to be a farewell to this version of both title characters.