Can a superhero movie without any plans for a sequel or a future have a credits scene?
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
If we’re using The Flash as an example, yes! The movie, starring Ezra Miller as the super-speedy hero, has one credits scene at the very end.
While the movie ends with Barry saving the world from himself, protecting the multiverse (including an odd, CGI’d Christopher Reeve), and returning to his normal timeline, the Flash’s future seems entirely dependent on how much this movie makes. Warner Bros. hasn’t announced any upcoming Flash projects in its initial slate of television and movie projects. That could change, though, as schedules can shift for properties that are super successful.
Superhero movie credits scenes tend to function as mini commercials for upcoming stuff, however. So if there’s no project in the pipeline, then what is an extra scene going to do for that hero?
The answer, it seems, is to tease what’s left: Aquaman!
In the credits scene, which comes at the very end, we find Barry Allen and Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) hanging out. Barry is telling a visibly drunk Arthur about his adventures and says that throughout the multiverse, Arthur is always Aquaman. That’s weird, as Barry explains, because he’s run into different Bruces Wayne and others, but Arthur is always the same. Arthur then gets a little too drunk and falls, face-first, into a puddle (gross). Barry asks if Arthur needs anything, to which Arthur replies he’d like another drink, before taking a little nap in the puddle (yes, still gross).
This scene functions more as a teaser with a slight inside joke.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which Momoa is starring in, is scheduled for release on December 20. Bringing the Flash and Aquaman together and establishing their relationship hints at the possibility of a Flash cameo in that movie. Their chemistry was arguably one of the better parts of 2017’s Justice League.
The other reason this scene seems so significant is that the planned Warner Bros. universe of DC superheroes seems to be all but scrapped now. Warner Bros. named Peter Safran and director James Gunn as the new creative heads for the studio’s DC comic book universe, and with that decision, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, and Ben Affleck have all seemingly been cut loose from their contracts and may no longer (cameos aside) reprise their roles as Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. Momoa and Miller are the last two big stars left playing their Justice League characters. It isn’t clear if there’s a future for either one in Warner Bros.’ new superhero universe. Safran and Gunn have hinted that there may be a trilogy for Aquaman, but there’s also a running rumor that Momoa is being eyed to play a DC antihero named Lobo.
The joke about Arthur being the same character across the multiverse seems to be a sweet acknowledgment — no matter what happens next — of how Momoa has brought Aquaman to life.
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