'Ant-Man' Post-Credits Scene Explained: Everything You Need To Know About Marvel's Latest End Setups

Marvel seemed to know that it had an uphill battle on its hands getting people on board with its oddest superhero yet, Ant-Man. In order to help bring its cadre of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans into the fold, studio president Kevin Feige decided to put two of the most interesting end-credits scenes to date in the latest film.

[SPOILER ALERT: The remainder of this article will discuss the plot and end of “Ant-Man.”]

The Paul Rudd-starring film, which had its U.S. debut Friday, ends on a high note for all the characters involved as they stop the bad guy from developing an army of hostile Yellowjacket suits and Lang appears to be recruited by Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to join the Avengers. When the credits roll, all seems well for our band of new heroes. However, it wouldn’t be Marvel without a post-credits tag and teaser to reward those who stay in the theater after the film finishes.

The first tag shows Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dayne (Evangeline Lilly) going back into the vault inside Pym’s San Francisco home. After revealing the real cause of her mother’s death earlier in the movie, Hope learned that her father doesn’t want her donning the Ant-Man costume in order to protect her from the same fate. However, given Hope’s training and the knowledge that her mother was a superhero, Pym must have known that it was only a matter of time before his daughter found her way into the world of extraordinary people.

During this scene Pym reveals to her the updated Wasp suit that he’d been working on with his late wife before she died. As previously reported, Wasp in the comic books is one of the more central characters to the Avengers. He tells Hope that together they’ll finish the suit, and just like that - the MCU has introduced yet another female superhero. Unfortunately, it may take some time to see her in action. As Entertainment Weekly notes, Lilly is not signed on to appear in the major crossover event “Captain America: Civil War“ in 2016. Marvel is likely saving her for when it needs a cavalcade of superheroes to battle Thanos in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”

While the inclusion of Wasp would have been enough for the franchise to hang its hat and allow people to exit the theater, Marvel didn’t stop there. The post-credits sequence showed a dark and intense scene in which Captain America (Chris Evans) and Falcon (Mackie) have finally tracked down Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who disappeared at the end of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

Bucky’s metal arm is trapped in some kind of mechanical vice and the two superheroes seem to be having a discussion about what to do with their new prisoner. The scene, which CinemaBlend reports is actually footage from “Civil War,” mentions Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Fans know that Stark will be battling Cap in the upcoming film, but Falcon still asks if they should call him for help. Cap mentions that “the accords” might not allow Stark to help them at all and that they’ll have to go at this one alone. Some have speculated that this is an early allusion to the Superhuman Registration Act that works as the catalyst for the Civil War.

According to the film’s official plot synopsis, after a catastrophic event that results in civilian casualties, Captain America and Iron Man find themselves on opposite sides of a debate. The government wants to force all of the Avengers and all super-powered people to register their identities with the U.S. government and act as a police force. Iron Man is all for the idea, but Cap leads a small faction against it. Without Stark to help them, Mackie tells his friend that he knows a guy, presumably Ant-Man.

The scene only lasts about 30 seconds, but it still manages to establish a number of things: Captain America has finally tracked down Bucky, he and Falcon are alone in this discovery, there is tension between Cap and Stark, Ant-Man will be worked into the fold and Bucky seems to be out of it since the last time he appeared on screen in 2014.

What did you think of the post-credits scene in Marvel’s “Ant-Man”? Comment below or tweet your thoughts to @TylerMcCarthy.