Every MCU Phase 5 Post-Credits Scene Ranked (Including Thunderbolts*)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe didn’t invent post-credits scenes. Decades before Nick Fury broke into Tony Stark’s home in 2008’s Iron Man, movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Airplane featured content in the credits for moviegoers willing to stick around. However, Marvel Studios has turned tags into an art form, using them to finish off running gags or tease upcoming projects and characters. Post-credits scenes have become as important as the movies themselves at this point. But, with the MCU losing a bit of steam in recent years after a few lackluster films and shows, the expectations for post-credits scenes have dwindled.

Phase 5 of the MCU has heated things up, though, and the juice from the movies is transferring over to the post-credits scenes. So, with Thunderbolts* featuring another wild tag at the end of the credits, it’s time to see how all of Phase 5’s post-credits scenes stack up against one another.

6. Captain America: Brave New World

Unlike most MCU movies, Captain America: Brave New World only features one post-credits scene. Sam Wilson visits Samuel Sterns in The Raft, and the villain warns him about an impending conflict between different worlds. The Leader’s obviously teasing Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, but his speech is too generic to land a decent spot on this ranking.

5. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

If Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s mid-credits scene, which features various versions of Kang arguing about nonsense, was the only reward for sitting through the movie, it would be dead last. However, the early look at Loki Season 2 at the end of the credits that reveals another Kang variant, Victory Timely, does a great job setting up the threat of Phase 5’s initial Big Bad.

4. The Marvels

The most surprising of the bunch, The Marvels‘ sole post-credits scene sees Monica Rambeau wake up in another universe after sacrificing herself to save Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel. She meets a variant of her mother, Maria, as well as an iconic member of the X-Men, Beast. The Marvels‘ tag goes for shock value over everything, which works to its benefit in some ways, but it’ll be hard to justify if it doesn’t come back around in one of the upcoming Avengers movies.

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3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Both of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s credits scenes aim to reveal the new status of members of the original team. The first sees the new Guardians bonding over music and even features a callback to the first movie, while the second features Peter Quill adjusting to life on Earth with his grandpa. The comedy and emotion of both scenes work really well and act as a nice reset after the poignant events of Vol. 3.

2. Deadpool & Wolverine

The fun of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s post-credits scene is that it’s a long time coming. Chris Evans returns early in the movie, and while his role is a mystery at first, his potty mouth makes it clear that he’s not playing Captain America but another Marvel hero. While Johnny Storm doesn’t last long in the movie, he returns in the post-credits scene to reveal what he really thinks of Cassandra Nova. His profanity-filled tirade is one of the funniest parts of Deadpool & Wolverine and makes up for all the times that Evans’ Captain America had to keep it kid-friendly.

1. Thunderbolts*

Being a movie all about C-list Marvel characters, it’s hard to expect much from Thunderbolts* post-credits scenes. Those expectations drop even further after the mid-credits scene features Red Guardian trying to convince a woman in a grocery store to buy cereal with his face on it. However, the post-credits scene turns things up to 11, revealing the rift between the New Avengers and Sam Wilson’s team and introducing the Fantastic Four to the Sacred Timeline. The final moments of Thunderbolts* answer a lot of questions and set the stage for the MCU’s next couple of projects in a big way.

Thunderbolts* is in theaters now.

Which MCU Phase 5 post-credits scene is your favorite? How would you rank all of them after seeing Thunderbolts*? Let us know in the comments below!