The Creation And Evolution Of A Marvel End Credits Sequence

Thanks to Marvel Studios, scenes that happen in the middle of or after the credits have become something more often expected than not when it comes to blockbusters with sequel potential. And along with those scenes, Marvel has made a habit of having stylish end credits sequences roll after the end of each of their movies. So how are they made?

For The Avengers: Age of Ultron, a motion graphics company called Perception was brought in to create the end credits sequence, and they've briefly detailed a few different ideas they had for the sequence with examples of each potential direction it could have gone. See the alternate Marvel end credits sequence options for The Avengers: Age of Ultron below!

Here are examples of the four different directions Perception pitched to Marvel with video when possible:

Direction A – Hive Mind – Inspired by Ultron's hive mind ability, which enables him to animate and control entire armies of robots simultaneously, this direction uses swarms to create and reveal imagery and character specific objects for each title card.

Direction B – Crackle – For generations, Marvel fans have loved the incredible renderings of power and pure energy that have lifted off the comic pages emanating from their favorite heroes and this direction takes its inspiration from those classic panels.

Direction C – Iconic Moments – Bold icons encapsulate characters, locations, and plot points into simple and clever forms while rich environments give moody context to each symbol, suggesting endless layers of iconic moments.

Direction D – Earth's Mightiest Heroes – Inspired by heroic war monuments and classical sculpture, this direction involves the crafting of a full Avengers sculpture that freezes their most epic face-offs within the monument of war.

As we now know, Marvel went with Direction D, though the final statue used to depict The Avengers was a little different than what you see in the example video. Here's an animatic version of the final credits sequence before lighting, textures and all that jazz were added into the mix:

Personally, my favorite possibility was Direction B – Crackle, but it's easy to see why Direction D works for Marvel's purposes. After all, in the real world, some sort of statue like that would be erected in honor of the superheroes, not unlike the soldiers of Iwo Jima or the emergency responders of 9/11.

If you want to read more about the process and inspiration for the credits sequence that ended up making the final cut of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, check out Perception's website for the full rundown.