Some movie endings that tease a sequel can greatly improve viewers’ feelings towards certain films, and that seems to have been the case with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. The new MCU movie has a shocking twist ending, and it has audiences debating over what it means. Sometimes, however, that kind of ending can have the opposite effect.
Sticking a sequel hint at the end of a movie that studios know isn’t going to go anywhere is one of the most tactless faux pas in the film industry, and it happens all the time. Many final shots have promised sequels in unique ways, only they never came to fruition, and Redditors believe these are the worst instance.
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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
AnokataX reminds users about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as the whole film was simply setting up the sequel. But the big moments came at the very end, hinting at the classic villain team, The Sinister Six. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was subsequently canceled and that never happened, but the Redditor notes, “At least we got some form of closure in the most recent Spider-Man film.”
After Spider-Man: No Way Home featured five villains teaming up, all from a different universe, surely that was close enough. But even now, with Vulture being introduced in the mid and post-credits scene of Morbius, Sony is seemingly still not giving up on the Sinister Six, no matter how many times it fails.
Godzilla (1998)
One of the most shocking moments in 1998’s Godzilla is when the kaiju dies at the end. Given that studios always try to leave the movie open for the possibility of a sequel, killing the beast was a strange decision. However, another way a sequel could continue was hinted at in the final scene. TeamStark31 notes, “The 90s Godzilla teased a missed egg in the end, but there was never a sequel.”
It’s no surprise that there wasn’t a Godzilla 2, as the movie massively underperformed at the box office, even though it is way better than 2014’s Godzilla. A sequel following a baby Zilla could have been a huge success though, especially now with fans’ obsessions with Baby Groot and Baby Yoda. However, while it isn’t a movie or even live-action, the plot did continue in the animated morning series, which finally saw the egg completely hatch.
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
At the end of The Simpsons Movie during the credits, the yellow family can be seen watching the credits in a movie theatre themselves. After squabbling amongst themselves, Maggie says her first word, “sequel?” MattBJM has an interesting theory as to why that sequel hasn’t happened yet.
The Redditor posits, “The Simpsons Movie teased a sequel in a post-credits scene, but they didn’t do it because the writers of The Simpsons don’t believe in stretching things out.” The user is obviously making fun of the fact that the TV show is now on its 33rd season, and each season’s quality gets consecutively worse.
22 Jump Street (2014)
Other-Marketing-6167 reminds users, “22 Jump Street promised many sequels, all of which I think are completely plausible and am actively waiting for.” There wasn’t just one sequel hinted at in the mid-credits scene of the movie, but dozens, including video games and spin-offs too.
The tease was essentially a meta-joke with the movie poking fun at itself for being a sequel to a remake of a TV show, and it’s perfectly in line with the tone of the whole film and one of the best movies within a movie. But it would have been fun to see 27 Jump Street: Culinary School with Bill Hader as the villain. However, there were talks of a Jump Street and Men in Black spin-off, which is too perfect of an idea to waste.
Machete Kills (2013)
It’s a shock that the first Machete was ever made, let alone the sequel, Machete Kills, as the series began as a fake trailer as part of director Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse project. But Rodriguez was such a fan of the idea that he turned it into a feature-length movie. And Machete Kills swiftly followed three years later.
IAmSomnabula reminds users that at the end of the 2013 movie, a trailer was revealed for a threequel, Machete Kills Again… In Space. However, though there’s a trailer, that doesn’t mean that a film was made. It could be that Rodriguez shot sequences specifically for a trailer, just like he did for the Grindhouse release.
John Carter (2012)
Along with a new song, a new Bond girl, and a beautiful-looking intro, every 007 movie comes with the promise that James Bond will return at the end of the credits. Some MCU movies have done that too, along with a bunch of other franchises, including John Carter. However, John Carter can hardly be called a franchise, as it’s just one movie, but that wasn’t the plan.
Tibor-Bodnar notes, “John Carter ending says he will return but poor bastard never did.” Disney had huge hopes for the martian, but that was before it became one of the biggest box office failures of all time. The film had an inflated budget of over $300 million, which doesn’t even include marketing costs, and it only made $280 million worldwide. For as great of a success rate as Disney has, the studio always fails with its sci-fi movies.
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Super Mario Bros. was the first-ever major Hollywood video game movie, and the genre was off to a bad start. Fans of the game and critics alike thought the movie was abysmal. The live-action adaptation is one of the strangest movies ever released and the troubled production has been well documented over the years.
But that didn’t stop the studio’s misplaced confidence. Captain_Foulenough recalls, “Super Mario Bros. had a bit at the end trying to set up a sequel.” After the plumbers have defeated Bowser and successfully returned to the normal world, Princess Daisy storms into their house armed with a huge machine gun before cutting to black.
Conan The Destroyer (1984)
LemonWalker-420 simply states, “A 3rd Arnold Conan,” referring to another movie in the Conan the Barbarian series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. At the end of Conan the Destroyer, the second movie in the Conan series, he is offered the opportunity to rule his own kingdom. Instead, the barbarian leaves to find more adventures, hinting at an even bigger and more epic sequel.
However, though it never arrived, it wasn’t just an empty promise made by Universal. A third Conan movie was put into development, and at one point, the Wachowski sisters were attached to direct. The movie was titled King Conan: Crown of Iron, which would undoubtedly have been an ambitious and visually stunning action adventure.
Masters Of The Universe (1987)
For as fun and campy as Masters of the Universe is, the movie’s box office success was written on the wall. There was no way the movie was ever going to be a hit, but Darkuen recalls a post-credits scene that gives fans hope for a follow-up. The Redditor explains, “Skeletor is revealed to have survived in an after-credits scene and says ‘I’ll be back!.'”
Not only did the studio have some nerve to steal an iconic quote from a different, much better sci-fi franchise, but it was bold enough to think that the movie would be so successful that a sequel would be greenlit. But, in fairness, a sequel was attempted, and according to Den of Geek, a screenplay was written, which was titled Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg.
Beerfest (2005)
SparkJaa notes, “At the end of Beerfest, we were promised Potfest. They need to hurry up and make it while Willie Nelson is still kicking.” Beerfest’s failure came as a surprise considering that it comes from the revered comedy troupe Broken Lizard, who wrote and starred in the classic Super Troopers.
However, Beerfest made a minuscule $20 million worldwide, meaning that even if a sequel was being seriously considered, those talks came to a quick halt after just the movie’s opening weekend. But as Super Troopers got a sequel 17 years later after it became a cult classic, there’s still hope for Beerfest yet.