It still amazes me that when the credits start rolling on a Marvel movie, people all around me will get up and leave. If you haven't learned by now then you should have your MCU card revoked. Many of us now have to sit through the credits of every movie we see just in case it has followed the trope Marvel has made popular. I really should have known House Of Gucci wouldn't have a post-credits scene – that's ten minutes of my life I'm never getting back.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is gradually hitting theaters around the world, which means we now know who and what are in its credit scenes. It should go without saying at this point, and really before you started reading this article, that what comes next is riddled with spoilers. If you haven't seen No Way Home and you don't want some very key plot points spoiled, then stop reading now.RELATED: Marvel Should Create A Connected Games Universe
First of all, No Way Home has two credit scenes. One midway through and another right at the end. Always handy to know just in case there isn't one at the very end and you can save yourself a few minutes of sitting there for nothing.
Venom In The MCU
The mid-credits scene shows Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock sitting at a bar in Mexico, quizzing a bartender about everything in the MCU. If you recognize the bartender, that's because he is Ted Lasso's Dani Rojas. Brock, and of course Venom who doesn't appear beyond the voice Brock is grappling with in his head, confusingly asks the bartender an array of questions. Bemused by this new universe being filled with superheroes including a billionaire in a tin suit and a really angry green man. Both Brock and Venom chuckle when learning that angry green man's name is Hulk. Thanos also gets a shout-out as the purple alien who likes stones.
Despite Venom's desire to go skinny dipping, Brock reveals that he plans to head to New York City to pay Spider-Man a visit. However, shortly after that decision he and Venom are sent back to their own universe. The scene would have been running in tandem with the one in the movie when Doctor Strange sends the interdimensional villains and their accompanying Spider-Men back from whence they came.
There was a caveat though, and it's a big one. A little piece of Venom's symbiote was left behind in the MCU. That could mean any number of things for the future. Venom showing up in the next Spidey flick, or perhaps before that, but presumably without Tom Hardy as its host is the most likely outcome. What wasn't made clear is why Brock and Venom were summoned to the MCU by Strange's spell in the first place.
The spell was only supposed to open the gate between universes to those who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Brock clearly had no idea. However, Venom boasted in the credits scene of his own movie that he has “80 billion light-years of hive knowledge across universes”. Odds are that includes information on who Spider-Man is in at least one of them.
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
The second No Way Home credits scene, which comes right at the end of the movie, was a little different from what MCU fans are used to. Not a short scene introducing a new character or including a joke, but basically a full-blown trailer for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, the next big-screen instalment in the MCU that is coming in May 2022.
Even though Strange closes up the cracks in the multiverse with his “everyone forgets Peter Parker” spell at the end of No Way Home, the name of Doctor Strange 2 gives away that he hasn't fixed it entirely. The teaser for the next chapter begins with Strange saying “it was the only way, but I never meant for any of this to happen” to somebody. Perhaps a representative of the TVA who will likely be getting involved considering the disruption caused to multiple timelines during No Way Home.
Strange then seeks out Wanda and asks for her help, quizzing her on what she knows about the multiverse. The last time we saw Wanda was in the credits scene of WandaVision's finale. In that scene, Wanda appeared to be messing with magic, and perhaps even time. Now it seems she is actually helping Strange clean up whatever mess his spells have made.
The real jaw-dropper in the post-credits teaser is when Strange is shown coming face to face with Strange Supreme. Strange Supreme was first introduced to the MCU via the animated series What If? as the dark version of Doctor Strange, who becomes evil due to his inability to accept the permanence of Christine's death. Strange Supreme ignores The Ancient One's warnings and brings Christine back from the dead, effectively breaking the universe.
The universe collapses in on itself as a result, leaving Strange Supreme trapped for all eternity. Well, other than when The Watcher frees him to help save the multiverse before returning him to his infinite prison. It wasn't clear whether the Strange Supreme in the live-action MCU will be the same as the one from What If, but it seems likely. Perhaps the second spell Strange cast allowed his dark alter ego to escape and arrive in his universe. That would explain Mordo telling Strange that the biggest threat to their universe is him, and perhaps Doctor Strange 2 will be the last time we see him in the MCU as he sacrifices himself to defeat Strange Supreme.
Not only did the action throughout No Way Home open a lot of doors for the future, but both its credit scenes have paved the way for what might well be the most exciting chapter in the MCU so far. Spider-Man and Doctor Strange will return, as will Wanda, Venom, and at this point potentially anyone your heart desires.
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