The Marvel Cinematic Universe didn't invent the post-credit scene, but they definitely popularized it. Since 2008, when as Nick Fury told Tony Stark () he was "putting together a team," Marvel has effectively used these stingers to hint at what's to come. Audiences were so on board with post-credit scenes, Marvel began doing mid-credit scenes! The protocol became using one scene to set up the next film, and the other as a fun call back to the film people had just watched. While not always perfectly executed, by and large these scenes were a fun part of the experience that made it so fans had to see the movie opening weekend. But as the MCU has fluctuated in quality post-, so to have the post-credit scenes, with being the latest to disappoint.

To recap the post-credits scene in Brave New World: Sam Wilson () visits, for unclear reasons, the film's antagonist, Samuel Sterns (), the scientist with a brain altered by the Hulk's blood who subsequently infected Thaddeus Ross () with gamma radiation turning him into the Red Hulk. Now in prison, Sterns warns Mackie that he has which leaves Wilson in a stunned silence. It is a scene meant to imply the multiverses colliding in the upcoming . In theory, this is fine, but in execution, the scene feels as vague as possible and incredibly unsatisfying. How did Marvel screw things up this badly?

The tacked-on scene, shot in one of numerous reshoots, largely fails because it doesn't give fans anything new or exciting to latch on to in anticipation of the next movies. Prior films and TV series have already laid the groundwork for the multiverse, with literally calling it out (and criticizing it as tired) last summer. This offers no clues about Sam Wilson's or anyone else's roles in Secret Wars, any surprise people that might show up, It is a scene so unspecific in what it's promising other than something coming that the internet could tell you more about what's next for the MCU than this scene. Remember the Thanos tease in ? For those not in the know, it was the alien villain that gave Loki the scepter, telling a menacing purple face that challenging the Avengers would be akin to "courting death," to which the purple face smiles at the camera. What happened to that kind of credit scene?

There have been some fun post-Endgame credit scenes (Pizza Poppa was certainly appreciated), but overall it's been a downward trend that reflects the MCU's lack of direction. In their quest for endless expansion, the MCU's credit scenes have done little to suggest anything substantial that could stick? Recent scenes haveteased future appearances of , , , , , , , and that... might happen. It's not off the table, but there is a lack of a clear narrative thread anymore. Is coming? ? Young Avengers? The X-Men? All of them? None of them? Part of the joy was having a sense of what will be out in the next year or two, but now there's the feeling of just throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. Which leads to the biggest issue: they're just not fun anymore.

The biggest sign Marvel had lost the handle on how to steer the ship were the credits scenes in . One of the scenes tied in to and connected Kang () as a major threat in the future. This was unnecessary since the entirety of Quantumania was characters ominously saying how threatening a threat Kang would be, but it was nice to see and The issue was with the other scene, once again establishing the threat of Kang, but this time elevating it due to all of his variants working together. Like the other scene, it's fine, but one makes the other redundant, and it was Marvel choosing to double down on setting things up instead of making a silly callback. . There was a prime opportunity to call back to a joke in Quatumania, Scott Lang's () job at Baskin-Robbins. The film does one call back, when there are multiples of Scott and one is in his uniform, so why not do another call back? Comedy works on the rule of threes and in the infinite multiverse,

Occasionally, it helps to look at the larger problems with something through the lens of the minutia. The first joke credit scene was a simple call back to Tony Stark mentioning shawarma during the climax of The Avengers. For years, Marvel had great control of revealing just enough while still having fun with what was to come. Hopefully they have better ideas for Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It would be so nice if the post-credit scenes were something to look forward to and didn't feel dreadfully obligatory.

Captain America: Brave New World is currently in theaters.