Every tease Marvel still needs to pay off, in theory

Over the past 17 years, Marvel Studios has focused as much on the continuity of its ongoing mega-story as it’s focused on the content of any given superhero film. The 23-film Infinity Saga was never just about individual movie narratives — it was about the buildup to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the two-part blockbuster event that brought the entire sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe together for one grand battle royale.

But once the Infinity Saga wrapped with 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, Marvel had to find a new central organizing factor, a way to give all the crossovers, cataclysmic conflicts, and multiverse mayhem some meaning. That process has been bumpy, and it’s left Marvel with a lot of loose ends, hints, and promises of sagas to come, which have become difficult to keep track of.

So in case you wind up wondering, Hey, whatever happened to that all-white Vision who went missing after WandaVision? or Wait, Harry Styles was in a Marvel movie?, here’s a helpful rundown of all the cliffhangers and post-credits sequences Marvel still hasn’t paid off yet.

[Ed. note: The following contains spoilers for almost every Marvel Studios project from 2021 through today, including the recently released movie Thunderbolts* and TV series Daredevil: Born Again.]

WandaVision

The cliffhanger: Vision is alive, in a different form

The original Vision created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner was killed by Thanos during the events of Avengers: Infinity War. In WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff revives Vision as a manifestation of her grief. Separately, the government agency SWORD rebuilds another Vision as a weapon, with the intention that their white version would destroy Wanda and the other Vision within the reality bubble of Westfield.

SWORD’s White Vision and Wanda’s revived Vision battle each other, and the latter helps the former see his existence from a new perspective. White Vision gains the memories and experiences of the original Vision and just… takes off. He hasn’t been seen since.

The eventual payoff

White Vision is tipped to return in a new series, Vision Quest, intended to serve as a sequel to WandaVision. The series is slated to stream on Disney Plus in 2026, and will see multiple MCU actors reprising their role: Paul Bettany as Vision, James Spader as Ultron, and Faran Tahir as Raza from the original Iron Man.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The cliffhanger: Shang-Chi is recruited by Wong and the Ten Rings are reborn

In a mid-credits scene, Wong summons Shang-Chi/Shaun (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) to Kamar-Taj. There, they meet Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers, who are teleconferencing in as holograms, to discuss the origins of Shang-Chi’s superpowered rings. The rings, our Avengers pals say, are an ancient beacon transmitting an unknown message to an unknown recipient.

In a post-credits scene, Shaun’s sister, Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), is revealed to be the new leader of the Ten Rings organization, despite saying that she would disband it. Xialing is modernizing the group and making it gender-inclusive.

The eventual payoff

Shang-Chi 2? Director Destin Daniel Cretton is said to be working on a sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but first has to get Spider-Man: Brand New Day out the door. (Marvel hasn’t put a sequel to Shang-Chi on its schedule yet.) Cretton is also executive producing Marvel’s new Wonder Man series for Disney Plus, which will feature Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery, an important character in Shang-Chi. Maybe Simu Liu will show up in Wonder Man? Liu is confirmed to reprise his role as Shang-Chi in Avengers: Doomsday in 2026.

What we don’t know yet is who or what the magical rings are calling out to. (Fin Fang Foom, perhaps?)

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The cliffhanger: Two Captains America

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s new Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), was stripped of his title as the star-spangled superman after a botched mission. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly known as The Falcon, becomes the new Captain America — and is clearly superior, because he can fly. But Walker gets a new costume and a new identity, the U.S. Agent, thanks to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

The other cliffhanger: Sharon Carter, ex-SHIELD agent, is up to no good

During the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it’s revealed that Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) has evolved from SHIELD super-spy to the mysterious Power Broker. In the end, however, she’s pardoned by the U.S. government for crimes committed during the events of Captain America: Civil War and is offered a position at the CIA. She’s later shown having a conversation about selling government secrets, weapons, and technology — you know, real Power Broker stuff.

The eventual payoff

Sam Wilson’s new role as Captain America was explored in Captain America: Brave New World, which co-stars Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s Leader. As of Thunderbolts*, it’s clear that Sam is now the official and only Captain America, whereas John Walker doesn’t even appear to be operating as “U.S. Agent” anymore, and is now just a merc with a shield and no official government identity. But the end of the movie also makes it clear that Sam’s “new Avengers” and Walker’s “new Avengers” are dueling for the title, so there’s still a question of who’ll walk away with the title.

As for the Power Broker, does anyone really care that much?

Eternals

The cliffhanger: Harry Styles is Thanos’ brother — and is that Blade?!

The ending of Eternals exposes the people of Earth to Celestials — there’s still a giant marble Tiamut hand and head sticking out of the Indian Ocean! — and sees Thena (Angelina Jolie), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), and Druig (Barry Keoghan) traveling through space in search of other Eternals. While traveling, the Eternals’ ship, Domo, is boarded by two newcomers to the MCU: Eros (aka Starfox), who is the brother of Thanos (and played by Harry Styles), and Pip the Troll, voiced by Patton Oswalt. Eros warns Thena that her friends “are in big trouble” and offers to help find them.

In a post-credits scene, we see Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) opening a mysterious box that contains the Ebony Blade. Off screen, we hear Marvel’s vampire-hunter Blade (Mahershala Ali) ask, “You sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”

The eventual payoff

Eternals’ final scenes strongly hint at the continuing adventures of the ancient superheroes, though the film wound up being one of Marvel Studios’ worst-rated releases to date. Marvel does not have a sequel on its current list of announced projects, but director Chloé Zhao has said she’d return for a follow-up.

The post-credits scene positions Whitman to become the superhero known as Black Knight, who has been a member of the Avengers in Marvel Comics (and has roots in Arthurian legend, which would be a whole new thing for the MCU). The Black Knight and his Ebony Blade were presumably set to be a component of Marvel’s stand-alone Blade movie, which has been plagued with problems and indefinitely delayed.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

The cliffhanger: The world has forgotten Peter Parker and the MCU gets a drip of Venom

Doctor Strange and Peter Parker royally screwed things up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the fix involved a big old mindwipe. The end result? No one knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker in the MCU. In fact, no one knows who Peter Parker is, forcing our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to start his superhero life from scratch. No fancy nanotech suit. No friends or family. No high school diploma, even!

And in a post-credits sequence, the effects of Strange’s messy multiverse manipulations mean that Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his symbiote BFF Venom enjoyed a brief vacation in Earth-199999, the core MCU reality we know and love. Strange’s spell eventually sends Eddie and Venom home, but a teeny-tiny piece of the symbiote stays behind.

The eventual payoff

A fourth MCU Spider-Man film, titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is coming. Producer Amy Pascal has strongly hinted that there will be a new trilogy of Spider-Man movies from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, starring Tom Holland. It’s unclear what direction Brand New Day will take the Spider-Man franchise in, but Holland has described the movie as “a fresh start” and “crazy.” Said Holland, “It’s a little different to anything we’ve done before, but I think the fans are gonna really respond to it.”

Will the MCU get its own version of the Spider-Man black suit saga and its own version of Venom? That’s also now in the cards, thanks to No Way Home’s stray symbiote goo. Tom Hardy is reportedly done playing Venom, but has said he’d return to the role if he got to play opposite Tom Holland’s Spider-Man — though he’s also said that movie has already fallen apart in planning once.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The cliffhanger: Stephen Strange gets another eye, Clea joins the MCU

After developing a spooky third eye as a result of utilizing the Darkhold, Strange is approached on the street by the sorceress Clea (Charlize Theron). She warns him that his actions have triggered an incursion that Strange needs to fix. Strange follows Clea into the Dark Dimension, home of Doctor Strange villain Dormammu — who is also Clea’s uncle.

The eventual payoff

Stephen Strange and Clea are an off-again-on-again item in Marvel comics, so a future cinematic (and romantic) team-up seems likely. Multiverse of Madness also introduced America Chavez to MCU lore, and she seems perfect for a future Young Avengers project (more on that later). 

Moon Knight

The cliffhanger: This is getting out of hand. Now there are three of them!

Moon Knight’s mid-credits scene reveals a secret the show had been teasing throughout its six-episode run: Marc Spector and Steven Grant are not the only people in their head. There’s a third personality neither of them are aware of: Jake Lockley. Khonshu, who still has influence over Jake, has Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) murdered in the back of a limousine. With the god Ammit inside of Arthur, that would presumably mean the end of Ammit, too. Jake and Khonshu drive off, hinting at further adventures for Moon Knight.

The eventual payoff

Marvel hasn’t confirmed a second season of Moon Knight, but it’s possible that the character could show up in future Marvel projects. He seems like a good fit for the mystical and horror side of the MCU, which has been explored in Werewolf by Night and will be further expanded by 2025’s Blade movie and Disney Plus series Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. It would certainly be a shame not to bring Oscar Isaac back as Moon Knight and May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly/Scarlet Scarab.

Thor: Love and Thunder

The cliffhanger: More kids

In addition to Thor now having an adopted daughter who wields Stormbreaker, the fourth Thor movie introduces a whole bunch of gods — with Zeus (Russell Crowe) sending his son Hercules (played by Brett Goldstein) on a quest to kill Thor.

The eventual payoff

Thor… 5? Maybe! Chris Hemsworth seems to be down for more Thor, with his only condition being that the next movie be “unpredictable.” Ragnarok and Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi has also said he was surprised to see the “Thor will return” text at the end of Love and Thunder, but that he’d consider coming back for a particularly “surprising and unexpected” story with the hero. One thing’s for certain: We can’t just let Marvel tease Brett Goldstein as Hercules — a member of multiple teams in Marvel comics, including the Avengers — and then do nothing with him.

Hemsworth is confirmed to return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday. Whether Goldstein’s Hercules or Thor’s daughter will join him is unknown.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

The cliffhanger: Bruce Banner has a kid and the Abomination has busted out of prison

Jennifer Walters, after getting her season-finale rewrite, is in a pretty good spot at the end of She-Hulk. 

Also, her cousin Bruce Banner, The Hulk, has a kid! Apparently, while on Sakaar (during or before the events of Thor: Ragnarok), Hulk got someone pregnant — in the comics, that would be the alien Caiera — and now we have Skaar. Yes, Skaar from Sakaar. Also, Wong popped up again with a portal to zoot Emil Blonsky (aka the Abomination) out of his supermax prison cell and straight to Kamar-Taj.

The eventual payoff

Almost certainly not more She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Series star Tatiana Maslany says Marvel’s passed on continuing the series. But Skaar could show up again, possibly as a Young Avenger. It’s unclear where Abomination will end up, but he seems like a good fit for a future Hulk movie. We’ve got quite a few Hulks now. Maybe Wong and Blonsky are just going to host a rewatch podcast of The Sopranos. The possibilities are endless.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The cliffhanger: Black Panther will return

The closing credits of Wakanda Forever clearly state “Black Panther will return.” Who will carry the mantle remains to be seen, as the film’s mid-credits sequence introduces the late T’Challa’s son with Nakia, born in secret. That may be less of a future Black Panther sequel tease than a heartfelt nod to the late Chadwick Boseman and the original version of Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole’s story for Wakanda Forever. Coogler and Cole originally envisioned the Black Panther sequel as a father-son adventure in which “T’Challa has to go save the world with his son on his hip,” Coogler told the New York Times in 2022.

The eventual payoff

Marvel has more stories set in Wakanda in the works, with the animated series Eyes of Wakanda set for release on Disney Plus in August. Another character introduced in Wakanda Forever is going to get a spinoff, too: Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) will return in the Disney Plus series Ironheart, which streams in July.

Letitia Wright will return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, and a third Black Panther movie has been all but confirmed by Coogler and actor Denzel Washington.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The cliffhanger: Ant-Man kills Kang, and everything is fine. Maybe.

Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) gets sucked into a power core and dies, potentially ushering in something cataclysmic. A mid-credits scene reveals that disaster to be The Council of Kangs (Jonathan Majors). We see hundreds of variants of Kang, led by Immortus (Jonathan Majors), hooting and hollering and frothing at the mouth as they prepare for multiversal domination.

The eventual payoff

Boy, is that the big question! Kang was positioned to be the Thanos-sized bad of Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga. He was even getting his own Avengers movie, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. But a lot’s changed. Jonathan Majors was dropped by Marvel after a jury found him guilty on assault and harassment charges. The Kang-led multiversal problem also appears to have been pretty neatly nipped in the bud during the course of season 2 of Loki.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has since been reworked and retitled to Avengers: Doomsday, with Victor Von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) taking over as the fifth Avengers film’s main antagonist. Like one of the massive teases of Eternals, Kang’s variants look like a dead end, and Marvel may just try to forget this ever happened.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The cliffhanger: Chris Pratt will be back

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wrapped up the trilogy nicely, so don’t expect a Vol. 4 — even with the mid-credits tease of a new team composed of Rocket, Groot, Kraglin, Cosmo, Adam Warlock, Phyla, and Adam’s pet Blurp. But Marvel Studios says you can count on more Star-Lord. Vol. 3’s ending and post-credits scene show that Peter Quill is now back on Earth, eating cereal and contemplating mowing his neighbor’s lawn. An end title card promises “The legendary Star-Lord will return.”

The eventual payoff

Guardians director James Gunn won’t be making any more Marvel movies, and it seems like some of the core cast has moved on. But there is at least one team of Guardians still out there, and the Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone)-led Ravagers who seem to have been prepped at one point for their own spinoff. 

If Star-Lord’s coming back, it’s not clear how. Maybe for 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, or some other cosmic Marvel project further down the line.

The Marvels

The cliffhanger: Young Avengers! X-Men!

Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) has her Nick Fury moment, recruiting Hawkeye’s Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) for her new “kid superhero” group. Kamala also implies that she’s going to add Ant-Man’s daughter, Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), to the roster of young Avengers candidates. And while Marvel Studios has not announced any sort of Young Avengers project, it sure has introduced a lot of young people with superhero potential in recent years.

In a mid-credits sequence, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) wakes up in a parallel universe where she is greeted by Binary — an alternate version of her mother, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) — and mutant scientist Hank McCoy/Beast (the Kelsey Grammer version) from the X-Men. They’re apparently in Charles Xavier’s X-Mansion.

The eventual payoff

There’s the future team of Young Avengers taking shape, which may result in a Disney Plus series called Champions. Then there’s the MCU X-Men, which have been teased in WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — and a lot of 20th Century Fox-era mutants showed up in Deadpool & Wolverine. Many of the actors from the Fox X-Men films will reappear in Avengers: Doomsday, including Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen.

Marvel will need to move on from those characters and actors at some point in the future, with 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars looking like a pretty good candidate for a universe-resetting event.

Captain America: Brave New World

The cliffhanger: Something vague but bad!

Brave New World’s post-credits sequence shows Samuel Sterns (aka the Leader) being held in a prison cell in the Raft, the result of his meddling with President Ross’ blood, various murders, and the fallout from the Red Hulk’s destructive rampage on the White House. Sterns tells Sam Wilson, “It’s coming. I’ve seen it in the probabilities. You think this is the only world? Let’s see what happens when you have to protect this world from the others.” It’s a maddeningly vague warning, one that could apply to any number of future MCU projects. Or none of them!

The eventual payoff

Are “the others” a reference to Galactus and the Silver Surfer? Doctor Doom? Mutants? Various multiversal worlds that will be explored in Avengers: Secret Wars? We’ll probably know in the next few years, but Sterns’ tease of otherworldly threats feel pretty limp, considering the multiple alien attacks on Earth and tears in the fabric of the multiverse in the MCU thus far.

Daredevil: Born Again

The cliffhanger: Kingpin schemes

The first season of Daredevil: Born Again sets up a second, with a growing war between Matt Murdock’s alter ego Daredevil and mayor Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin), and their various armies of vigilantes, cops, and Anti-Vigilante Task Force ranks. Fisk has taken Jack Duquesne/Swordsman, Frank Castle/Punisher, and other dissidents prisoner in his Red Hook hideout, though Castle is implied to have escaped from his cell in a mid-credits scene.

The eventual payoff

Daredevil: Born Again season 2, which comes to Disney Plus in 2026, and a new Punisher stand-alone special, which will be co-written by Jon Bernthal. Born Again season 2 will give Daredevil a new look, switching from his traditional red costume to a black one.

Thunderbolts*

The cliffhanger: An Avengers war and the Fantastic Four

As mentioned above, Thunderbolts*’ post-credits scenes tease a conflict between new Captain America Sam Wilson, who’s forming a new Avengers team (and has apparently taken the step of copyrighting the “New Avengers” label!), and the Thunderbolts team themselves, who Valentina has tried to market as the New Avengers. The movie also suggests a conflict between the entire team and Valentina, who tried to manipulate them into killing each other, then tried to manipulate their former member Bob into killing them all, then tried to pretend they all work for her. A post-credits scene teases an extradimensional ship, emblazoned with the Fantastic Four logo, entering Earth’s atmosphere.

The eventual payoff

Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in July to pay off that last tease. Most members of the Thunderbolts*/“New Avengerz” (per the clever copyright-dodging tweak David Harbour’s Red Guardian suggests) team are already confirmed for appearances in Avengers: Doomsday.

What’s next for Marvel Studios? Here’s a rundown of the current slate of upcoming confirmed Marvel movies and TV shows for Disney Plus.