Joss Whedon clarifies on that Spider-Man post-credits sting – and Hulk’s future

A few days ago, a mysterious video was uploaded to YouTube with footage of what appeared to be a cinema screen, showing the end credits of the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron and what is commonly referred to nowadays as a ‘post-credits sting’, something that Marvel routinely add to their movies at the very end. It showed Spider-Man making an appearance next to the Avengers Tower, and despite the blurriness of the video itself, it seemed professionally made. Speaking at a press conference when addressed about this potentially leaked post-credits sting for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon clarified things: the video is absolutely a fake. Here’s what he had to say on the matter.

‘Yeah, that’s not real. I don’t know where that started – it is not, in fact, part of the movie, and I don’t know who came up with it. We wanted to be clear that there was no tag scene at the very, very end of the film, because after sitting through 40 minutes of credits (laughter) and not seeing anything, we thought people would become irate. So no, I don’t know where that started.’

Whedon has been very public about there being no post-credits tag for his new movie, stating in interviews that there absolutely isn’t one. And we can also confirm for you that there definitely isn’t one – unless, by the time the film gets its US release (a week after the UK), they’ll have regrouped for a simple shot like they did for 2012’s The Avengers.

Whedon and Mark Ruffalo – who plays Bruce Banner and the Hulk in Avengers: Age of Ultron – were also asked about the future of the Hulk after this movie. They were both very coy in their response, which didn’t actually give any answers: Ruffalo responded with ‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’, while Whedon backed him up with ‘It’s too amazing.’ Of course, they could just be playing around; on the other hand, they could be keeping any developments on Hulk’s future absolutely under wraps. What might that entail? A new solo movie? An appearance in an upcoming MCU film, potentially Civil War? It’s sheer conjecture at this point – but Whedon’s and Ruffalo’s excited silence is rather telling that they do indeed have plans for the Hulk. Which, since sitting out Phase Two, is a thrilling thought.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is released April 23 in the UK, and in the UK on May 1.