You NEED To Stick Around For The Hawkeye Finale Mid-Credits Scene
It may not be the most informative, but it's def entertaining.
The tradition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe mid- and post-credit scene was born with the original 2008 Iron Man film. While not totally foreign, the practice of putting footage outside a film’s runtime was usually reserved for blooper reels in comedy movies. But Marvel Studios made the decision to move the film’s connecting tissue to future sequels outside the movie’s runtime. And thus, the tradition was born. If you’re wondering if this habit has extended to the MCU’s Disney+ shows, you’re in luck! There is indeed a Hawkeye finale mid-credits scene. But it’s a little different from ones that have come before it.
Warning: Spoilers for Hawkeye’s finale follow. No MCU property is complete without at least one mid- or post-credits scene. (The sole exception to this is Avengers: Endgame; the lack of any bonus credit scene denotes the film as the conclusion of the Infinity Saga.) When the MCU began releasing shows on Disney+, it kept up the tradition. WandaVision has four strewn across the final three episodes; Loki has one in each of the final two eps; The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and What If?... each reserved their mid-credits scenes for their respective finales.
Hawkeye did not have any extra scenes in its first five episodes, making one for the finale highly anticipated. But instead of some hint or teaser for Marvel’s next release, fans discovered a title card wishing fans “Happy Holidays from Marvel,” followed by a complete performance of “Save The City” by the cast of Rogers!
The musical number was a fan-favorite moment from Hawkeye’s premiere episode. It helped that the imagined number (which itself is poking fun at Disney’s habit of adapting hit films for the Great White Way) came from a roster of Broadway vets. Written by Hairspray’s Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the song features performances by Adam Pascal and Ty Taylor, along with the “Musical Avengers” played by Aaron Nedrick, Avery Gillham, Harris Turner, Jason Scott MacDonald, Meghan Manning, Nico DeJesus, Tom Feeney, and Jordan Chin.
The song is a delight and sure to capture the hearts of those once again watching Broadway shutter this winter. However, fans were less than thrilled that this was all they were getting in a mid-credits scene. There’s no Hawkeye Season 2 in the works, but there is Echo — why wasn’t there a teaser for that? Or how about a glimpse of other little-seen upcoming series like Moon Knight or She-Hulk?
However, fans may not realize the MCU doesn’t have anything solidly scheduled next for Disney+. There are precisely two Marvel titles on deck for the front half of 2022. The first is Sony’s Morbius in January, a non-MCU title that would not be expected to get a post-credit lead-in fro Hawkeye. The other is May’s Dr. Strange sequel, and it already had a post-credit scene released at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. There just wasn’t anything timely for Hawkeye to hawk.
More importantly, after zero releases in 2020, Marvel went on a tear in 2021, releasing 10 hit titles across multiple platforms and production studios in 12 months. From WandaVision in January to Spider-Man in December, the company ran the table, breaking box office records and dominating the entertainment conversation all year. Although Hawkeye is not a proper ending like Endgame, it *is* the capper to an extraordinary run for the company. If Marvel wants to take a break for a minute and just let fans enjoy some musical theater this holiday season, so be it.
