Iron Man didn’t just start the cinematic universe trend in modern filmmaking, it also rejuvenated the post-credits scene phenomenon. This practice existed for decades before Tony Stark announced he was Iron Man to the audience, as motion pictures like The Muppet Movie, Airplane!, and Space Jam (among many others) can attest. However, Iron Man normalized the practice of teasing sequels and further adventures in Marvel superhero movies. From now on, audiences would be patiently waiting after any given Marvel adaptation to see some kind of small sequence (sometimes offering a final gag, other times offering a glimpse into future movies) lurking within the credits.
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Still, even within this trend, not every Marvel movie adaptation played ball. Some motion pictures based on Marvel Comics characters didn’t have a credit scene of any kind, even in the wake of hits like The Avengers and Iron Man. This includes the December 2024 box office flop Kraven the Hunter, which became the second Sony’s Spider-Man Universe title (following Madame Web) to lack a credit sequence. Ahead, we’ll look at every post-May 2008 Marvel movie that lacks a credit sequence. Though not the default norm for these titles in a post-Iron Man world, there certainly have been some Marvel Comics adaptations that have thrown caution and audience expectations to the wind by reveling in very traditional end credits.
The Incredible Hulk
Just six weeks after Iron Man, the second Marvel Cinematic Universe movie technically didn’t have a post-credit sequence, because it played such a scene just before the credits. The Incredible Hulk concludes with a stinger involving Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) approaching General Ross (William Hurt) about how “we’re putting a team together.” This would totally be the kind of scene burrowed within or after the credits in a typical Marvel Studios production. On Incredible Hulk, though, it technically occurred before the words “directed by Louis Letterier” came on screen, thus making it a rare MCU title to lack a credit sequence.
Punisher: War Zone
Conceived as both a homage to old grindhouse action films and an entity divorced from Marvel Studios, the hard-R December 2008 feature Punisher: War Zone, unsurprisingly, featured no credit scenes of any kind. That would’ve gone against a motion picture more interested in the gnarly crunching of bones than laying the groundwork for endless Punisher sequels.
X-Men: First Class
Two years before Iron Man, X-Men: The Last Stand became the first X-Men installment to feature a post-credits scene (which teased the survival of Charles Xavier). While X-Men Origins: Wolverine featured alternating credits scenes in its theatrical run, 2011’s X-Men: First Class eschewed any credits sequence. This was probably due to its ending (featuring Erik Lehnsherr breaking Emma Frost out of prison and declaring himself Magneto), which was already enough of a tease for where future adventures could go.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
The second solo Ghost Rider movie didn’t even try to tee up further Ghost Rider installments. This critically reviled franchise killed off live-action movie versions of the Marvel anti-hero for the foreseeable future. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’s ending saw Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider speeding off to new adventures surrounded by blue flames, but audiences never got a credits scene teasing what specific shenanigans he’d engage in with his new powers.
Fantastic Four
After 2012’s The Avengers, all subsequent Marvel adaptations, whether from Marvel Studios or not, featured credit scenes of some kind. That hot streak came to an end in August 2015, when Fantastic Four hit theaters with nary a sequel tease of any kind in its end credits. This was despite a follow-up being scheduled for a June 2017 release back when it first hit theaters. This Josh Trank directorial effort was beleaguered with so much turmoil that 20th Century Fox executives likely decided to focus on just getting this movie out first rather than concretely teasing any sequels.
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Logan
Nobody could be surprised that Logan had no credits scene of any kind. Playing more like a Western or bleak drama than a conventional superhero movie, Logan ended on a definitive, emotionally devastating note that would’ve been undercut by a credits scene. Plus, its theatrical screenings were preceded by a Deadpool short entitled No Good Deed, which functioned at setting up future Fox/Marvel movies without resorting to a potentially disruptive credits scene.
Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg explained over this X-Men film’s opening weekend that Phoenix lacked a credits sequence because the film itself provided enough closure to 19 years of X-Men movies. Further scenes in the end credits would’ve been superfluous. Undoubtedly factoring into this decision, though, was the Disney/Fox merger. The Mouse House’s Marvel Studios had their own plans for these merry mutants that any Dark Phoenix credits scene could’ve thrown a wrench into.
The New Mutants
Before its release, there were endless rumors and speculation over the end credits sequence for The New Mutants and specifically which actors would appear in it. All that internet chatter turned out to be for naught. The New Mutants finally reached theaters in August 2020, years after its initial release date. It played in largely empty multiplexes with no end credits sequence. The final Fox/Marvel feature from the pre-Disney/Fox merger days featured tremendously unceremonious end credits.
Madame Web
Madame Web director S.J. Clarkson has claimed that this feature lacking any kind of credit sequence is simply because the movie itself delivered everything the filmmaker wanted to say. More likely, the reason for Madame Web’s vacant end credits is because the whole film is a bit of an end-credits teaser. This motion picture is all about teasing women becoming superheroes some day as well as dancing around the fact that Peter Parker’s mom and uncle are in this film. Piling on even more teases in the end credits would’ve been the very definition of redundant.
Kraven the Hunter
Reportedly the swan song for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Kraven the Hunter, like Madame Web, had no credits sequences. Audiences expecting a short scene of Kraven rubbing shoulders with Morbius or Venom would leave the theater sorely disappointed. If Kraven’s dismal box office is any cold comfort, at least there weren’t a plethora of moviegoers to underwhelm with this lack of a credit sequence. Not even a game-changer scene like Iron Man’s post-credits scene could’ve salvaged Kraven the Hunter.
