The idea of a post-credits scene has become extraordinarily popular as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues its campaign of pop-cultural domination. The comic book movie craze gained much of its fame from building an interconnected cinematic universe with each project. The recently released Super Mario Bros. Movie borrows the technique, but without any of the impact or importance of earlier examples.
The first big screen post-credits scene came in the 1966 film The Silencers, which ends with Dean Martin as Matt Helm surrounded by scantily clad women as a tease for the following feature. Most older examples were framed as jokes, some of which broke the fourth wall to tell the audience to go home. Today, they tend to be connective tissue, setting the stage for the next project. The Mario movie barely does either. See more.
