Eggs Over Easy

Sometimes, an Easter Egg is just a matter of waiting until after the credits of a movie to see a special scene that either hints at a sequel, adds something new to a story, or just something random. These "stingers", as they are called, were a treat for audiences patient enough to see the whole film, including the credits.

The most obvious example these days are the scenes after the credits of Marvel movies, but they didn't start this trend. From as far back as the 1960s, the words, "James Bond will return in…" showed up after the credits in Early Bond films. The 1979 movie, The Muppet Movie, featured an ensemble piece that played during the credits and, after the credits ended, had the character Animal breaking the fourth wall by telling the audience to "Go Home!"

Animal telling the audience to go home.

Other movies followed suit. Airplane! The Movie featured a scene where the main character, Striker, hijacked a taxi during the movie with a passenger inside. The after-credits scene goes back to the passenger, still waiting for Striker to get back. Ferris Bueller's Day Off also took a page from The Muppet Movie by mimicking Animal's "Go Home", but using the movie's titular character, Ferris in a robe.

Ferris Bueller telling the audience to go home.

Stingers have primarily been known to be at the end of comedies or kids movies, but it's been Marvel movies in the last 10 years that these Stingers have really caught the attention of the public and as seen as part of the movie. In addition, these stingers have not just been an extra scene, they've also been teasers for future movies that are not the immediate sequel. In essence, stingers started to tell stories themselves.

The first Iron Man movie had a stinger that introduced Nick Fury.

Nowadays there are websites dedicated to telling people if a movie has a stinger. In some cases, they will even have it on YouTube before wide release via hidden camera. But what of its future? Will stingers cease to be Easter Eggs and just be expected after every film? The trend seems to be so. More and more movies are featuring stingers every year and more and more stingers are being used to tell stories instead of embellishing the story or hint at a sequel.

Still, it's fun to see them.