Going to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn-Part 1? Yeah, me neither. It's funny though that the film is doing it's best impersonation of a Marvel Studios movie by copying the marketing ploy of having a post-credits teaser scene that ties directly to it's next film. Should we be outraged by this contamination of the pure and holy institution that is known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-credit teaser? If anything, I think this is a signal to Marvel that the novelty of their grand marketing ploy, the one brilliant stroke that set this whole thing off.... has sadly worn off. When the likes of Twilight start copying your ideas, it's time to come up with some new ones.
I do have to point out that Marvel is not the first to have post-credit scenes or stingers as there also sometimes called. Hellboy, Daredevil, and X-Men: The Last Stand all had post-credit scenes before Iron Man came in 2008 and changed the game. But just like many other things at the House of Ideas, they're not the first to do a particular thing, they're the first to take that established concept and perfect it. And as Marvel's history has shown, when others start to copy or catch up, they often move on to perfecting something else. The question know will be what's the next great marketing ploy for Marvel? Will it be the shorts, tie-in TV shows, or something else?
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.
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.
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