Ranking All of The Marvel Studios Post-Credits Scenes From Best To Worst (2nd Edition- May 2017)

Hey, look! Even The Marvel Studios logo got a major update since I did the first edition of this article!

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR ALL MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE MOVIES, INCLUDING GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Back in August 2014, I wrote up an essay ranking the then 13 post-credits scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from worst to best. In honor of the release of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and its five separate post-credit scenes, I decided to do an updated version of that essay, this time rejiggering the placement of certain scenes that already existed way back in August 2014 and adding the 12 (yes, 12) mid-credit and post-credit sequences that have been scattered throughout the five Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies that have been released since August 2014. Join me, won't you, in this expansive look at the post-credits scenes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

26. The Incredible Hulk: This one's kind of a cheat, considering it happens at the very end of the movie instead of the credits, but I'll allow it since it functions like a normal post-credit scene. This one was fun to watch back in 2008, with its fun Robert Downey Jr. cameo being especially neat considering how massively successful Iron Man had been. Still, the scene doesn't really fit into the continuity to the movie (it was so out of place Marvel even made a short film that retconned the meaning behind the bit) and, like The Incredible Hulk, remains more of an oddity than anything else.

25. Thor: The Dark World (Post-Credits Scene): This one puzzles me, since it's actually a fine scene in and of itself. Thor just returns to Earth, kisses Jane Foster and then we cut to a giant ice beast wrecking havoc in London. Aside from the bit with the monster though, this bit should have been in the actual movie though. This isn't some tease for a future Marvel movie, but rather a nice way to wrap up one of the films central themes (Jane and Thor's relationship) Why they saved this for the post-credits scene instead of playing it over Thor's final speech about not wanting to be king is truly beyond me.

24. Avengers: Age Of Ultron: In retrospect, it feels like Marvel Studios just had no clue what the hell to do with this movies mid-credits scene (as of May 2017, this is only the second Marvel Studios movie after The Incredible Hulk without a proper post-credits scene). It seems like they wanted to save the explicit Civil War tease for Ant-Man's post-credits scene, while not wanting to give Ant-Man a post-credits scene since he already had a new trailer premiere on all Age Of Ultron screenings and Doctor Stranger hadn't even started filming yet. So they were left with yet another Thanos tease that just felt perfunctory instead of exciting. I'd rather they just eschewed this MCU tradition rather than deliver us something as middling as this scene.

23. Thor: Man, the God of Thunder just doesn't get his due when it comes to post-credits scenes. This one has a clever idea at the center of it (Nick Fury recruits Erik Selvig to help figure out how to use the Tesseract as an energy source) but it's kind of perplexing in hindsight. Loki appears to be controlling Erik in this scene, which is cool, but he doesn't actually get control over him until The Avengers. This is the last time Marvel really made a blunder in their expanding continuity, but it is one of the more noticeable ones nonetheless.

22. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Post-Credits Scene): This is isn't really a bad one (from here on out, all the post-credits scenes pretty much range from "oh that's cool!" to outright awesome to life-changing for a loser geek like me), but it is kind of slight. Sure, Bucky is looking for his past, but coming on the heels of that amazing mid-credits scene, it feels lacking. Still, it does pose some nice questions for the third Captain America film and the payoff to an early Stan Lee cameo is amusing.

Kraglin (Sean Gunn)

21. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Post-Credits Scene): And now we come to the first of the five Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 credits sequences on this list and these all really offer plenty to talk about. Of the five scenes, two of them are traditional MCU post-credits scenes in that they set up future characters to appear in a notable capacity in future cosmic MCU outings while the other three credits scenes are more on the order of the post-credits bit of the first Guardians in that they're strictly around for some yuks. This final Stan Lee stinger falls into that latter category and while it isn't a bad scene by any means, it's just not as funny as the other two moments, even if it does confirm to us all that, yes, Stan Lee was talking to The Watcher, who is officially a character in a summer blockbuster.

20. Iron Man 2: It's a super short scene (and also only one of four post-credits scenes to use actual footage from another Marvel Studios movie), but man if this wasn't one of the coolest things you saw in a movie theater in 2010. Phil Coulson arrives in Arizona to investigate...HOLY CRAP IT'S THOR'S HAMMER!! In that brief moment, the Marvel Cinematic Universe just got a whole lot larger, and one massive step closer to that Avengers adventure.

19. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Credits Scene #1): Here's another Guardians 2 credits scene that exists strictly to garner laughs, as Kraglin (Sean Gunn) tries to control Yondu's arrow with his whistling, an attempt that results in Drax getting accidentally punctured by that arrow. It's short, funny and Sean Gunn's reaction to Drax getting hurt by his little trial run with Yondu's equipment is quite humorous. On a sidenote, I wouldn't mind Kraglin sticking around in future Guardians movie, he could work nicely as the group's human companion, a non-superpowered dude just helping out the son of a Celestial and a gun-toting raccoon.

18. Doctor Strange (Post-Credits Scene): Benjamin Bratt gets to return after his brief appearance in the Doctor Strange movie proper and Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) gets to embrace his villain persona from the comics as it's revealed Mordo intends to forcibly take out people with magical powers or enhancements like Bratt's character. Obviously setting up Ejiofor's character to be a baddie in the inevitable Doctor Strange 2, this one's not the most surprising future movie tease in the world, but it does establish some potentially interesting motivations for Mordo and shows that Benjamin Bratt may have more involvement with the saga of Stephen Strange yet. Hopefully Michael Stuhlbarg will also get an expanded role in a Doctor Strange 2 to compensate for his oddly small role in this first Doctor Strange feature!

17. Iron Man 3: There was an insane amount of anger over this scene, as many felt betrayed by "only" getting this actually pretty amusing gag as their end credits scene. The problem with Iron Man 3 though was it was coming at a time of transition for Marvel Studios, since Robert Downey Jr. didn't have any more Marvel movies on his contract at the time, the Thor sequel already had a full trailer, negating the need for a post-credits teaser and the Guardians of The Galaxy hadn't even started filming yet. Considering all those challenges it faced, this is actually a great scene. Quick fan fact: this scene made Mark Ruffalo the first actor to portray Bruce Banner in more than one theatrical film.

16. Captain America: Civil War (Post-Credits Scene): This basically serves as just as yet another reminder to audiences that Sony and Marvel's Spider-Man movie is coming in 14 months time, an occurrence which means the sixth live-action Spider-Man feature film will further delay the release of the MCU's long-overdue first female superhero movie. Anywho, this sequence itself that closes out the final Captain America movie isn't revelatory in terms of the information it depicts but Tom Holland's so much fun to watch a Spidey and there's some fun dialogue with cute double-meanings (like when Peter references how he got beat up by a guy with a really big friend) that demonstrate well how delicately Peter Parker must juggle his normal life and his superhero alter-ego.

15. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Mid-Credits Scene): HYDRA has had a tremendous resurgence by the end of Captain Americas second solo adventure. In fact, their presence is now big enough that this mid-credits scene reveals long time comic book baddie Baron Vna Strucker has been experimenting on people with Loki's scepter. I'm usually in the know when it comes to what's happening in comic book films, but I had no idea Loki's scepter would be returning to future Avengers adventures, so you can imagine my surprise in this scene. Plus, our first look at Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch is a terrific one, as the two are stuck in two cells that are still sufficient enough to demonstrate their unique powers.

14. Ant-Man (Post-Credits Scene): Here's another one of the rare MCU post-credits scenes to actually contain footage from a then-upcoming movie. Our first look at Captain America: Civil War came in this scene as Bucky, Sam Wilson and Captain America himself try to figure out what they can do next and realize they're all alone. Well, almost alone. See, Sam Wilson says he might know a guy who could help...yep, Ant-Man himself. It's actually a nice little moment that helps establish the tense tone of the then-forthcoming Captian America: Civil War while also paying off an earlier scene in Ant-Man where the titular hero tussled with Sam Wilson. Little did Scott Lang know in that scuffle that that was the start of him getting a larger role in the MCU....

13. Captain America: The First Avenger: This doesn't quite have the replay value of the other post-credits scenes since it's essentially a trailer for The Avengers. But see, that's why it's so glorious; it was the very first time us moviegoers got to see what The Avengers looked like. It blew my mind then, and even all these years later, it still gets me pumped up, though this is one that gets ranked lower in this updated version of this list simply because it doesn't quite have the novelty factor or uniqueness of certain other scenes on this list.

12. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Credits Scene #3): Well, Baby Groot couldn't last forever despite how downright adorable he was and this little scene shows Groot as a surly teenager that Peter Quill is struggling so heavily to communicate with that he immediately understands the struggles Yondu experienced raising him. Lots of nice visual touches in this scene, such as the design of teenage Groot, the little video game he's playing and Peter isn't lying when he says there are leaves everywhere. Plus, Chris Pratt plays off this iteration of Groot well, another fine example of how all the live-action actors play off the various CGI characters in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 with exceptional levels of success.

11. Captain America: Civil War (Mid-Credits Scene): Bucky gets put back on ice thanks to Captain America's new Wakanda-dwelling pal. This scene gives audiences their first brief glimpse (kinda) at Wakanda and the technology within by way of the cryogenic chamber Bucky is stored in. Those are some mighty fine reveals, especially since they allow Black Panther to further emphasize his already prominently important role in the plot. Plus, it's nice how Bucky does some self-sacrificing, here by voluntarily going into cryo-sleep, an overt sign of a damaged man looking to repent for his past.

10. Thor: The Dark World (Mid-Credits Scene): This was actually a terrific scene, giving us our first glimpse at the world James Gunn was conjuring up with Guardians of The Galaxy. Depicting Sif and Volstagg visiting The Collector, this scene introduced Infinity Stones to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an extremely notable achievement. The best part about this scene though was watching it in a theater filled with non-Comic Book geeks and watching their bewildered reactions. "What the hell? Why is Benicio Del Toro acting like that?" Ah, good times. And somehow, the mid-credits scenes have only gotten weirder since then, just ask the second Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 credit stinger.....

9. Ant-Man (Mid-Credits Scene): The Wasp has arrived! While I still maintain ya coulda had Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) contribute more to the story of the actual movie by donning the Wasp outfit during the climax of the movie, this mid-credits scene is still great in how it sets up the upcoming movie Ant-Man And The Wasp by having Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) a suit of armor based on the outfit her mother worse as the superhero The Wasp. Hope's response to this ("It's about damn time!") is perfect and the suit actually looks pretty nifty! This is another great example of these post-credits scenes building on well-established character dynamics that tease further developments we're all just itching to see!

8. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Credits Scene #4): Though his sister, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) got to be one of the main baddies of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, Adam Warlock has been MIA from the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, despite a caccoon bearing a strong resemblance to the one that gives birth to him in the comics showing up in the first Guardians movie and James Gunn having a self-professed love for the character. This scene sets up Adam Warlock as explicitly coming to the MCU in the near future though, as Ayesha reveals she has created a new organism to help take down the Guardians that she will call Adam. Not only is it an exciting development in terms of us all finally getting to see Adam Warlock in live-action movie form but it's also great that this guarantees that Ayesha will come back in future movies. Hooray for the MCU finally learning (between Ayesha and last year's Zemo in Captain America: Civil War) to keep their baddies around so they can grow across multiple stories!

7. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Credits Scene #2): So here's a credit sequence so geeky even I needed to do some investigating to figure out what it was referencing. The scene itself, which depicts Stakar (Sylvester Stallone) reuniting a whole horde of crazy aliens, which are comprised of Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames), his adopted sister in the comics (no clue what their lineage is in the movies) Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh, so happy she's in the MCU!), Stakar's right-hand man Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), red alien sorcerer Krugarr and robot Mainframe (voiced by Miley Cyrus....yes, that Miley Cyrus). Upon doing some nerdy research, I not only found out who all these people were but also discovered these were all members of the original Guardians Of The Galaxy team in the comics! What a nice nod to the past, but really, it's a bonkers enough sequence on its own that it's still super entertaining to see Sylvester Stallone bounce off Ving Rhames and a robot Miley Cyrus really briefly. It's yet another sign of how crazily cosmic these movies are getting and I so so hope James Gunn's promise that all these characters are coming back in future movies comes to fruition....

6. Doctor Strange (Mid-Credits Scene): And now, the best MCU credits sequence since I wrote the original version of this article. Doctor Strange plays things so separately from the rest of the Marvel universe that, in my first viewing of the movie, an off-hand mention of The Avengers by Wong midway through the movie actually served as a reminder to even that this thing was indeed taking place in the same universe as Iron Man and Guardians Of The Galaxy. Here, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) finally gets to interact with the rest of the MCU in a scene presumably from Thor: Ragnarok as he gets to interact with Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Not only does it expand the scope of Stephen's world significantly, but it's also super funny when Thor reacts to his giant glass of booze magically refilling itself. I'd imagine Thor's in for lots of other similar discoveries when it comes to seeing what magic is capable of in Thor: Ragnarok when he and Doctor Strange team up...

5. Guardians of The Galaxy (Post-Credits Scene): Would these cosmic a-holes first post-credits scene tease a sequel, Doctor Strange, Avengers...the possibilities seemed endless. If you had left me to my own devices for a week to come up with a post-credits moment for the movie, I doubt I would have ever come up with the excellent one we wound up with, where Howard the Duck returns to cinema screens for the first time in 28 years. I love how people seem to actually remember Howard and get excited when he pops up, and hopefully that kind of positive reception means Howard will soon go on further fun adventures.

4. The Avengers (Mid-Credits Scene): The first Marvel Studios movie to have not one, but two post-credits moments, this one really shook things up by tossing Thanos into the mix. Many didn't know who he was (I remember having to explain to my pals who the big purple dude was), but for us comic book fans in the know, we all knew the worst foe possible was yet to come for The Avengers. His memorable appearance in Guardians of The Galaxy furthered his presence in exciting ways, but even it couldn't match this particular spectacular post-credits scene.

3. The Avengers (Post-Credits Scene): I love how the finale scene of the third biggest movie of all-time simply depicts its protagonists sitting and eating shawarma. Such a small, but perfect scene. the best part is how each of the characters have separate actions that nicely reflect their own personalities; Tony looks disappointed after hyping up the confection, Thor is chowing down on this Midgard food, Captain America shows how tired he is after commanding The Avengers during the epic battle, while Hawkeye (one of only two humans on the team) his resting his wounded foot. Superb stuff.

2. Guardians Of The Galaxy (Dancing Groot Scene): Like the quick scene found in The Incredible Hulk, this moment from Guardians Of The Galaxy occurs just as the credits begin to roll. It's become a world famous moment for a very good reason as little baby Groot begins to dance to I Want You Back by The Jackson 5 only to immediately come to a motionless halt the moment Drax looks over at him. Really, what's not to love about this scene? It not only reassures viewers that Groot will return in future adventures but the mere sight of that tiny Groot dancing so happily is pure joy.

1. Iron Man: Just like how PIXAR's first movie is till their greatest, the very first post-credit scene is still Marvel Studios most accomplished. In just one simple scene, depicting the first appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who has come to tell Iron Man about The Avengers Initiative, the entire world of cinema was forever altered. To quote the villain of another Summer 2008 superhero film "You've changed things...forever. There's no going back." Indeed there wasn't. This tiny scene paved the way for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe by demonstrating how much creativity they could put into this cross-over moments.

Now, lemme close this piece out by just noting something....look how far this universe has come in just the span of nine years. The post-credits scenes have gone from having Samuel L. Jackson in an eyepatch showing up to name-drop "The Avengers Initiative" to cosmic Sylvester Stallone talking to a group of super obscure Marvel Comics aliens, one of whom is voiced by Miley Cyrus, as they plan to unite to pull of some Ocean's Eleven style antics. I can't even imagine what kind of craziness these post-credits scene this franchise is gonna be producing in another nine years time but the audacity shown in the bets of these stingers show quite the level of showmanship and fun in the way this series constructs one of its most iconic facets.