Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World.
The MCU is known for its mid- and post-credits teases, often giving fans a glimpse of what’s next in the ever-expanding cinematic universe. However,Captain America: Brave New Worldtakes a different approach, opting for just one post-credits scene instead of the usual two. Collider’sSteve Weintraubsat down with directorJulius Onahto discuss the reasoning behind this decision and how the scene came together. In the post-credits sting,Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson visitsSamuel Sterns, also known as The Leader(Tim Blake Nelson), at the high-security prison known as The Raft. During their conversation, Sterns delivers an ominous warning about an impending threat from other universes and tells Sam he had better be prepared.
Given the history of Marvel movies packing in multiple teases at the end, the decision to only have a single post-credits scene might seem unusual. But according to Onah, it was always part of the plan:
“It was always the case thatwhat felt organic for this moviewas just leaning into a post-credits sequence that could tease what’s coming next.We wanted to tease it in a way that didn’t become too explicit.This is about introducing Sam as our new Captain America. That was the overarching focus of this movie, so to start throwing in too many post-credit sequences just felt like it was going to stray away from that. Even the tease we have is still very Sam-centric.”
It’s clear thatBrave New Worldis primarily about cementing Mackie’sSam Wilson as Captain America, rather than setting up multiple future projects, which is certainly a good approach, as too many Marvel films have been bogged down bysetting up what is to come, rather than telling the story in front of them. Onah and the Marvel team wanted to ensure that any teases remained in service of Sam’s story rather than distracting from it.
‘Brave New World’s Post-Credits Scene Was Shot During Additional Photography
Marvel Studios is known for its flexible approach to post-credit scenes, often deciding on them late in the production process, and Onah confirmed thatBrave New World’sscene wasn’t decided on untilafter the WGA strike ended, allowing Marvel to reassess its long-term plans to verify the right things were set up. Onah explained:
“That was shot during our additional photography. That’s what I mean aboutall this is planned ahead of time. We didn’t know what our post-credit scene was going to be just yet. As you know, there was a massive writers’ strike, so that meant it waspencils down not just on this movie, but pencils down on everything in film and TV. Nothing was happening. So,who knew whatThunderboltswas going to look like necessarily? Or the nextAvengerswas going to look like?So when we got out of that strike, and we were actually able to put pen to paper forBrave New World, and everybody else was able to put pen to paper for their movies, then that’s when you may actually start to have a real conversation as to where things are going and what post-credits sequence is the appropriate one to tease. So, that’s how it evolved.”
The delay meant that theBrave New Worldteam didn’t lock down their post-credit scene until other key MCU projects were back in development. WhileThunderbolts*is the next major film on Marvel’s slate, it’s clear from what we saw on screen post-credits scene was shaped by larger MCU considerations, likely includingAvengers: DoomsdayandSecret Wars.
Stay tuned to Collider for more of our coverage ofCaptain America: Brave New World.
Captain America: Brave New World
