The following will get into what could be considered a very minor spoiler for Avengers: Endgame, so stop reading now if you are waiting to see the movie this weekend.
By now, Marvel fans know the drill: Stay in your seats until the final credits has tolled, because you never know when an extra scene of tantalizing footage might screen. Usually, it’s a clue as to where the story is going – Captain Marvel had a scene that fed right into the narrative of Avengers: Endgame, as a recent example. And sometimes it’s a joke aimed at people who wait for end-credit scenes.
But at the very end of Avengers: Endgame, something entirely different happened – at least, at the world premiere in Los Angeles, and in press screenings across the country. And it appears to be happening in public screenings, now that the movie has started to screen worldwide.
There is a beautiful tribute to the main cast of the MCU. And by “main,” I mean virtually every name that appears in a Marvel movie of note. William Hurt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Douglas, Robert Redford… a laundry list of legends get proper shout outs in the credits. Then, the credits transition to the Avengers team, proper. The six cast members who make up the initial team get video tributes, with the actors providing their signatures. It’s touching and beautiful, and well-deserved.
This segment goes where the normal mid-credits scene goes. However, true fans know that you have to stay seated until the very end, where a second scene usually surfaces.
Only, nothing happens at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Actually, that’s not accurate. There’s no scene. But at the press screenings (including the one that I attended), and at public screenings that have begun already, there’s a sound that comes through the theater speakers as the Marvel Studios logo comes up.
Those of us in the theater thought that something was about to happen. But no new footage comes up. Only the sound. What kind of sound is it? It’s a distinct “ting,” that sounds very close to the noise Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) makes while working on his initial suit of armor in the cave in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man. Is this what we are hearing? Is it an audio tribute to Stark, because the MCU started with Iron Man, and should end with Iron Man?
Possibly. In fact, that makes more sense than anything else, because there’s really nothing for Avengers: Endgame to tease. The only movie on its way is Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, and there’s no scene in this movie that sets that up.
There was speculation in journalist groups that Marvel Studios possibly was saving a scene for the public screenings. That has happened before. Except, I polled people who have been to public screenings, and additional footage has not been attached to the very end of the end credits.
But that sound was there.
Did you stay until the very end of the Avengers: Endgame end credits? Did you hear this sound? What is your take on what it is? It’s definitely there, so it’s included for a reason. But what’s the reason? Head to the comments below and give us your best guesses.
