8 Post-Credits Movie Scenes That Actually Led To Something Awesome

3. Thanos Takes The Gauntlet (Avengers: Age Of Ultron)

Thanos Armour
Marvel Studios

As we mentioned in our introduction, a lot of movie post-credits scenes are quite throwaway, and the MCU's suite of stingers is no exception. Guardians Of The Galaxy's Howard The Duck cameo, Thor: The Dark World's Thor/Jane kiss, and Spider-Man: Homecoming's patience gag - among others - ultimately served no purpose other than to fill a seemingly obligatory after-credits slot.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, the MCU has had its fair share of hugely important post and mid-credits tags, scenes that rewarded loyal viewers by delivering a massive payoff further down the line. Avengers: Age Of Ultron's is a perfect example of this, since it led directly into the universe-altering events of the fantastic Avengers: Infinity War.

The quick scene shows the mighty Thanos picking up the Infinity Gauntlet, before proclaiming that it's time he took matters into his own hands. Those matters are the Infinity Stones, and as we saw last year, he managed to gather them all up, slot them in the Gauntlet, and snap half the life in the universe away into a pile of dust.

This scene is far from the MCU's greatest, but thanks to the events of Infinity War, it now carries a lot more weight and importance. Knowing the damage that Thanos is able to inflict with that glove has retroactively made the moment he grabbed it even more powerful to watch.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!