- Post-credits scene
-
A post-credits scene (also called a stinger, tag, credit cookie or movie coda) is a short clip that appears after some or all of the closing credits of a film have run. It is usually either included for humor (where it may be called a "stinger gag") or to set up a possible sequel, as well as to inspire the audience to stay through the credits during the theatrical release.
Contents
History
Before stingers, movies frequently ended with a line of text advertising that a sequel was planned. One example is the 1963 James Bond film, From Russia with Love, the first in the series to show the ubiquitous "James Bond will return in..." just before the ending credits. Animal House (1978) altered the "When in Hollywood, Visit Universal Studios" card by adding "Ask for Babs," a reference to a character who had become a tour guide there.
One of the earliest appearances of a true stinger[citation needed] in a mainstream film was in The Muppet Movie in 1979, and use of such scenes gained popularity throughout the 1980s at the end of comedy films. The Muppet Movie also began a trend[citation needed] of using such stingers to break the fourth wall, even when much of the rest of the film had kept it intact. The scenes were often used as a form of metafiction, with characters showing an awareness that they were at the end of a film, and often telling the audience directly to leave the theatre. Films using this technique include Ferris Bueller's Day Off (in which the title character frequently broke the fourth wall during the movie) and Spice World. Stingers also appeared on the long-running TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, introduced in episode 205 ("Rocket Attack USA"), continuing until the end of the series. The stingers, with a few exceptions, highlighted moments from the films that were either particularly nonsensical or had simply caught the Brains' attention.
Roger Ebert's Ebert's Little Movie Glossary has an entry (written by Serdor Yegulalp) called "Monk's Reward," which defines it as "A surprising final line or image, tagged on after the credits have finished rolling (e.g., in Airplane!, the fellow in the taxicab at the airport, still waiting for the driver). It is named so because it takes monk-like devotion to sit through the credits to get to it. (Also known as Credit Cookies)"
Modern examples
Stingers lacking the metafictional aspects also gained prominence in the 1980s,[citation needed] although they were still primarily used for comedy films.[citation needed] Post-credits scenes became useful places for humorous scenes that would not fit in the main body of the film. Most[citation needed] were short clips that served to tie together loose ends—minor characters whose fates were not elaborated on earlier in the movie, or plotlines that were not fully wrapped up.
Even when post-credit scenes started to be used by films with little comedy development, the same format of giving closure to incomplete storylines or inconsequential characters remained in use. Using humor in such scenes is also still common for more serious films, as in the film Daredevil, in which Bullseye is shown after his defeat by Daredevil in a full body cast. Another example happens in Hellboy when Tom Manning is shown still wandering around the catacombs where he was last seen previously in the film when the other major players have left. Other films eschew the comedy in favor of a twist or revelation that would be out of place elsewhere in the movie, as in X-Men: The Last Stand's post-credits scene, which suggests that Professor X may have transferred his mind to the body of a comatose patient (which was revealed in the DVD commentary to be the identical twin of Charles Xavier, whose mind had been crippled and destroyed due to Charles's growing powers in utero).
Marvel Studios uses post-credits scenes to develop connections for its cinematic universe. Iron Man had Samuel L. Jackson appear as Nick Fury to recruit Tony Stark for the "Avenger Initiative". A scene (though originally planned as one, it is not actually post-credits, but takes place after the main story is over) from 2008's The Incredible Hulk had Stark offer the services of the Avengers to General Ross. Iron Man 2 showed S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) finding Thor's hammer Mjolnir in New Mexico. Thor showed Erik Selvig talking to Fury about the Cosmic Cube where it was revealed that Loki has mind control over Selvig and is seeking revenge. Captain America: The First Avenger included both a post-credits scene of Fury recruiting Steve Rogers for a new mission as well as a teaser for The Avengers. Both of the latter films also show tag lines similar to the James Bond films saying "Thor will return in the Avengers," and "Captain America will return in the Avengers" respectively.
The Pirates of the Caribbean films each include post-credits scenes, some of which affect the plot in following films. Most notably, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl shows Jack the monkey taking a medallion from the chest, explaining why he is still cursed in the latter films. The second film features a throwaway gag, and the third provides a vision of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann's future. On Stranger Tides shows Angelica finding the voodoo doll of Jack Sparrow.
The British soap opera Hollyoaks has post-credit scenes almost every episode.
Post-credit scenes in video games
Video games, particularly the ones that make use of complex stories, have begun using post-credits scenes.
- Almost ubiquitously, the Metroid series games feature a post-credits scene that generally involves Samus Aran revealing her identity.
- Some early Sonic the Hedgehog games included an image at the end of the credits of Robotnik juggling any uncollected chaos emeralds and challenging the player to 'try again'; if all emeralds had been collected the player is instead rewarded with an image of the protagonists celebrating or the game's logo.
- The post-credits scene has been a recurring motif in the Metal Gear series since the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX2, which featured text-only epilogues after the closing credits. Later entries in the series feature increasingly plot-critical post-credits conversations and scenes.
- In another early example, the SNES game EarthBound features a very short gameplay sequence after the credits, rather than a cutscene.
- In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a minigame can be played over the credits, where the players break the blocks upon which the credits are printed, competing to gather the most coins. After the credits, the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. are seen trying to flip Bowser off of his back. When they succeed, it ends with a large thud that was strong enough to collapse the castle on the family.
- The entire Halo series has made a tradition of having short cutscenes after the last level of the game is completed on the highest difficulty: "Legendary," most notably in Halo 3 where a cutscene is played showing "The Forward Unto Dawn", a ship carrying the Master Chief and Cortana, floating towards an unknown planet. In 2011, Halo 4 was announced. Other examples in the main trilogy are in Halo: Combat Evolved where Sergeant Johnson is seen fighting with an elite over an assault rifle only to be interrupted when Halo explodes with them in it (this scene is non-canon, as Johnson returns in Halo 2), or in Halo 2 where Cortana is seen speaking with the Gravemind. In Halo 3: ODST, a cutscene is played showing the Prophet of Truth looking at what appears to be the Ark, which is also a large plot point in Halo 3, and in Halo Wars a short dialogue clip is played where Serina wakes Cutter from cryogenic sleep saying, "something has happened". The most noteable one is Halo Reach ,in which there is a level after the end and a post credit starting with the first two words of Halo Combat Evolved.
- In the console version of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, a 'spongeball' course can be played through the credits, while the player can return any time.
- One example is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where a short clip is shown after the credits before placing the player in a special bonus mission entitled "Mile High Club", in which the player and several other S.A.S. commandos storm a terrorist held airplane in order to rescue a hostage.
- Another notable example is Call of Duty: World at War, where a short clip was shown before thrusting the player into a house being attacked by Nazi Zombies following the credits.
- The Kingdom Hearts series is notorious for using post-credit scenes as bonuses that allow the player to see a preview for the next game.
- Halo: Reach starts a mission after the credits where the player's objective is to survive. This can go on indefinitely and will only end if the player reaches zero health. A short clip is played of the player being killed by multiple Elites (most of which are killed with him/her).
- A short audio clip of a conversation between an unknown pilot and his superior plays after the credits of Dead Space 2. The information provided in the conversation suggests that the game's story may carry over into a possible sequel.
- After the staff credits of Super Paper Mario, a short scene is shown, depicting two figures standing on a grassy meadow under a blue sky. The two figures are said to be Timpani and Blumiere, two lovers who gave their lives and disappeared to save all worlds, and whose fate is a mystery.
- In Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, in a post credits scene, Spider-ham shows up asking Madame Web "So what I miss?"
- In Portal (video game), the character is dragged backwards along the floor while GLaDOS (an evil AI) says "Thank you for assuming the party submission position", a reference to earlier on in the game.
See Also
- Outtakes (sometimes played while the closing credits are still rolling, such as in many Pixar films)
- Bloopers
External links
Categories:- Film and video terminology
- Film scenes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
