Why did Avengers: Endgame have no post-credits scene? Its directors have the answer

Fans have already dissected every aspect of Avengers: Endgame, and the blockbuster culmination of the MCU’s first 22 movies has only been out a week. But what about that ending? No, not THAT ending (this piece is spoiler-free). The ending after the credits.

Breaking tradition, this entry into the Marvel universe didn’t boast a teaser clip after all was said and done, to give fans a taste of what comes next. Now fans know why, thanks to the people in charge of the movie themselves.

Speaking to USA Today, co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo explained why the end credits had no glimpse at the future of the Marvel universe. The answer? In short, because they’re done with it.

The Russo brothers have been running the team-up show since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, also directing Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Now they’ve finished with a record-setting piece of closure — so of course they wanted to keep it that way.

"It was never in the cards," Joe said. "It was called Endgame for a reason. This is it. This is the ending. The book is closed on that chapter of the Marvel universe and a new book will get written." Fans were certainly left with questions as the credits rolled, but the major ones weren’t about cliffhangers or sequels. That was a comfort for the directorial pair, who’ve been making movies that’ve had a "Where's this going?" feel for years.

It was a "great thrill," Anthony said, being able to actually close something out. "This was the first Marvel movie we've done where we weren't thinking about the future."

Now, "there's no future," Anthony continued. "There will be a future, of course, but it's not our responsibility."

But wait, even if there wasn’t any end-credits scene, there was still... something. A sound. A clang. It’s Tony Stark’s hammering, as he built that original Iron Man suit back in 2008. What does it signify? According to Anthony, it’s simply "an echo of the past.” Joe explained that, "It's really just an homage, sort of a little bookend. [The sound] started it and it ends it." That’s certainly one way to go out, with the hero who started it all. But some fans have different theories.

Some think it could refer to the “building” of a next chapter while others reached as far and obscurely into the Marvel comics as Beta Ray Bill. Is that strange alien Thor building a weapon? Probably not. But while it could certainly just be a sound meant to bookend, Marvel has shown that they never do anything randomly. What do you think that clang could mean?