Marvel and superhero movies have made it such a habit to include a stinger for what comes next that it's no surprise people are still wondering if The Rise of Skywalker is deviating with the format. Instead, Star Wars movies are tidily wrapped up and any clever or coy nods to the next movie are included within the film itself. Still, we recommend sticking around to watch the end credits roll, if only to honor the many people who worked hard to bring the last entry of the Skywalker trilogy to theaters and catch all those voice actor Easter eggs and celebrity cameos in The Rise of Skywalker.
This may come as disappointing news to some Star Wars fans hoping Lucasfilm might tease what’s to come for the franchise. The future of Star Wars is certainly more ambiguous than it’s been since Disney first announced the sequel trilogy. Star Wars is going on a bit of a theatrical hiatus for the next few years. The next film isn’t scheduled for release until 2022, and with the recent departure of directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, we don’t even know who’s directing the next movie, much less what it’s about.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Gallery
The good news is that we may learn more about this mystery movie as soon as January 2020.
For even more on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, be sure to check out what we thought of the surprising Force Awakens callback in The Rise of Skywalker. Or dig in on our 10 Biggest WTF Questions about the film. Check out our story on how TROS is performing poorly in China. Oh, and are you wondering if there will be an Episode 10? You're not alone. And of course, how can you not click on our Babu Frik appreciation post?
At this point, we pretty much expect blockbuster movies to have end-credits scenes, so it's understandable that audiences might wonder if there's an end-credits scene in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. If you're ready to stretch your legs by the end of the movie, there's good news: there's no end-credits scene to wait for!
In some ways, this isn't really that surprising. The dominance of Marvel movies this decade — and their penchant for using end-credits scenes to actually advance the plot or tease new characters, rather than just add fun easter eggs — has wired us to expect all major-franchise movies to drop something juicy after the credits roll. However, none of the Star Wars movies have post-credits scenes. It's still worth sitting through the end credits, though, at least for a little while — it lets the theater clear out a bit (and the restroom lines go down), and you can listen to the classic soundtrack, let your tears dry if you got a little choked up, and catch all the acknowledgments of the people who worked hard to make the movie happen.
Even if Star Wars were one of the franchises that typically has post-credits scenes, it would make sense that there's not one after The Rise of Skywalker. It's been confirmed that this is the final film in the central Skywalker Saga, and there aren't currently any major anthology films in the pipeline. Instead, the franchise's focus is shifting to TV, where Disney+ will soon be home to several shows (featuring existing characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cassian Andor) set in periods not seen on screen, mostly during the Imperial era — that is, between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Since end-credits scenes are usually geared toward teasing what comes next for a series, it makes sense that a series-concluding film wouldn't have one, much like how Avengers: Endgame didn't have one. Fortunately, there will still be plenty of Star Wars content in the future, just not on the big screen for a while.
At this point, in a world where we have Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge—a romper room for grown-ups so intricate that you can drink that horrid green breast milk from The Last Jedi there—we have few things keeping Star Wars from going full House of Mouse.
But Star Wars has managed to keep one small box in the long, Bob Iger-mandated blockbuster moviemaking checklist untouched: The end credits scene. It’s a classic cinematic trope at this point! It's right there in every Film Studies syllabus across the country, right next to mise en scène and the definition of a wide shot. For the uninitiated, in 2008, Marvel ushered us into a world where movies never really end, slapping an extra scene after Iron Man’s finale to tease an Avengers team-up.
Since then, we’ve trained to always half-expect some tease, to some movie years away, anytime we see a Big Movie. But Star Wars has managed to stay away from it—albeit in a roundabout way. Meaning: Disney-era Star Wars films have basically been doing end-credits teases—where, say, there’s an oh shit! cameo, or cringey tease to a future spinoff—as the final scene in its movies. Read: Darth Maul, a seemingly-deceased villain, coming out of nowhere via hologram in Solo: A Star Wars Story, or Darth Vader going full horror-movie slasher to wrap up Rogue One.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is no different. There’s nothing to see after John Williams blares through your theater’s speakers and the credits roll, but damn if seven Disney+ spinoffs aren’t teased in the last two scenes. It's tease-y in that same Marvel way. You’ll see—there’s a conversation between two side characters that pretty much presents as a series announcement, and another final couple shots that tease a new journey.
So, no—you won’t Samuel L. Jackson crashing the end of The Rise of Skywalker (as Mace Windu, not Nick Fury, of course). But Disney definitely doesn’t waste the precious chance to get you closer to that Disney+ subscription.