Superman Ending and Post-Credits Explained: Why It's Not About What's Next for the DCU

Yahoo

2 days ago

Let's make this simple: You want to know if there are any post- or mid-credits scenes in Superman. The answer is yes. The mid-credit 'scene' is really more of a quiet moment of reflection, before a humorous post-credit scene concludes things.
Full spoilers for the movie follow!
Superman has finally hit theaters, acting as the official live-action launch of the new DCU, following the smaller-scale animated series Creature Commandos coming first in terms of release dates. There's a lot at stake here, with Superman being tasked with laying the groundwork for this new DCU and providing a clean slate for the franchise after the previous DCEU ended in 2023 with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
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The film involves Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) releasing information Superman (David Cornenswet) himself never knew about his Kryptonian parents (who intended him to 'rule without mercy' on Earth) in order to turn the public against Superman and move forward with his own nefarious plans. So where does the movie leave off as far as setting up what's to come? And why is its more broad approach to universe-building probably a wise call compared to some of the more blatant sequel-bait we've grown accustomed to in comic book movies? Let's break it all down.Superman Ending Explained: Luthor Unhinged
Luthor, who has successfully presented himself as someone standing up against Superman's ominous plans, is able to press forward with his partnership with the president of the country of Boravia to invade Boravia's neighbor, Jarhanpur – something Superman had put a stop to the first time Boravia tried it.
The third act of Superman involves two crises unfolding in two separate parts of the world. First, Boravia's next attack is beginning, with the intention of absolutely decimating the people of Jarhanpur. Boravia and Luthor (who has been supplying Boravia with their weapons) intend to split the land between them after they conquer and kill anyone who gets in their way.
But Superman's attempt help Jarhanpur is curtailed when he's told by Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) that the world itself is now in danger because of a pocket universe Luthor had created to use as his own private prison (in which he imprisoned Superman himself for a time during the film) that is now causing a physical rift in Metropolis, literally ripping the city apart. And while Metropolis has been evacuated, the rift will continue to grow far beyond the city, endangering countless lives. Obsessed with killing Superman, Luthor ignores the warnings of his own men about what is occurring, sending his agents Ultraman and the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) to fight Superman and Mister Terrific.
In the ensuing fight, Superman is nearly killed by the Engineer, but when he manages to turn the tables on his foes, the mysterious, silent Ultraman is finally unmasked and revealed to be a clone of Superman created by Lex.
While Ultraman's comics counterpart is an alternate reality's dark and distorted version of Superman, the idea of an actual clone of Superman is one with plenty of connections to the comics, though this one doesn't use any of the associated names like Bizarro, Cyborg Superman or Superboy.
Superman and Ultraman have a vicious fight, while both attempt to avoid the black hole the rift has opened up, but ultimately Ultraman is pulled into it, ending his threat. Superman then confronts Luthor in his office, stopping him from escaping, while Mister Terrific is able to use Luthor's equipment to shut down the rift, sending the split portions of Metropolis back together - albeit inelegantly, since it's still obvious where things once had been torn in half. With the truth about Lex's entire plot revealed publicly by the Daily Planet – thanks to Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio) sending info to Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) – Lex is arrested and sent to Belle Reve Prison, while Superman's reputation is restored. Superman and his beloved Lois Lane (Rachel Bronahan), meanwhile, are reunited and share a mid-air kiss.
As for Jarhanpur, just when all hope seems lost for its people, they are saved by the arrival of Mister Terrific's Justice Gang teammates, Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), along with Superman's new ally, Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) - all of whom answered Superman's offscreen request for help. As his army is defeated, the corrupt, genocidal president of Boravia then finds out the hard way that Hawkgirl does not follow Superman's vow to never kill when she takes him high up in the air and drops him to his death.The Girl of Steel Arrives… and She's Plastered!
In the film's final scene, Superman returns to the Fortress of Solitude, where his Superman Robot assistants, trashed during the earlier break-in by the Engineer and Ultraman, have been rebuilt. They are interrupted by a large crashing sound that turns out to be none other than Superman's cousin - Supergirl (Milly Alcock)!
It's not the intro some might expect from a high profile superhero, as Supergirl comes stumbling into the Fortress, asking in a slurred voice 'Why did you move the door?' before asking 'Where is my dog?' - as we learn the superpowered dog, Krypto, who's been accompanying Superman for much of the film, is actually Supergirl's pet. This lines up with dialogue from earlier, when Superman said Krypto wasn't actually his pet and their dynamic was more of a foster situation.
After allowing Krypto to play with her in an amusingly roughhouse manner -- which is to say, he stomps on her with his super strength, smashing the ground beneath her as she laughs hysterically – Supergirl and Krypto depart, with her exclaiming to her cousin, 'Thanks for watching him, bitch!'
Superman then explains to his robots that Supergirl 'likes to go and party on other planets. Planets with red suns. Because of our metabolism, we can't get drunk on a planet with a yellow sun.'
For those who have read the 2021 miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, this will all sound very familiar. That comic first introduces a drunken and foul-mouthed Supergirl sitting at a bar on an alien planet, accompanied by Krypto, having traveled there specifically so she can actually get drunk on her 21st birthday. And this reference in Superman makes sense, because next year's Supergirl movie is specifically based on Woman of Tomorrow (and until recently was actually titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow). Supergirl's onscreen outfit in this scene – her usual Supergirl uniform, red skirt included, but with a brown jacket over it rather than any visible cape – also mirrors how she looks when we first meet her in that comic.
So for those expecting or hoping the first movie in the DCU to explicitly set up other DCU movies, it very much does with this Supergirl tease… but is there anything beyond that, specifically for Superman himself?
Does Superman Have a Mid- or Post-Credit Scene?
It has one of both… though calling what happens at the mid-credits a 'scene' is wildly overstating things. The initial closing credits play, using the same style and font as Richard Donner's iconic 1978 Superman film, and backed by the song 'Punkrocker' by Teddybears, featuring Iggy Pop - a nod to a scene in the film where Lois and Clark banter about how 'punk' someone as seemingly square as Clark could have been growing up, with Clark arguing that maybe his kindhearted approach to life is itself what's punk these days.
When these main credits conclude, we then cut to a shot of Superman sitting with Krypto. Superman is only seen from behind, as he and his dog – sorry, foster dog – peacefully sit and look at the Earth from the vantage point of the moon, with the two lovingly embracing each other.
If this sounds familiar, it's because we've seen a variation on this image from the film for quite awhile, since it first released as a photo last fall before then serving as the focal point of the IMAX poster for Superman. The moment, in turn, is a big comic book homage, since it's based upon a page from the 2005 comic All-Star Superman, one of Gunn's main inspirations for the movie.
It's a sweet little touch to add to the mid-credits of the film, though it lasts mere seconds and isn't really a scene as much as a moving snapshot.
The post-credits, though, feature an additional bit of interaction between Superman and Mister Terrific. In the scene, we see the two heroes standing next to each other, looking at one of the many Metropolis buildings that was torn apart by Luthor's pocket dimension rift, and then brought back together by Terrific when he fixed things.
Superman, however, is clearly bothered by the imperfect nature of the building's reconfiguration, and when he tells Terrific 'It's just a little off,' Terrific is pissed, replying, 'What do you want me to do!? Do you want me to take it apart and put it back together!?' When Superman stammers no, 'it's just…' Terrific replies, 'Just what!?' and storms off in frustration.
Superman yells after him, 'Hey man, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bum you out! I shouldn't have brought it up!' But when Mister Terrific continues to walk away, Superman says to himself, 'Darn it, I can be such a jerk sometimes…'
It's an amusing little moment between the two heroes, albeit not an hysterically funny one, but clearly there more as a bit of a slice of life for our clean-cut hero and one of his superpals than anything else. Though, yeah, it will likely lead to some 'That's it!?' reactions from some, who feel if they sat through the credits hoping for an extra scene, it also better be for SOME REALLY COOL THING.
But honestly, that's asking for something that not only has been done many times but has often proven to be a precarious path, as James Gunn is well aware.
Why It's OK Superman Functions as a Standalone Story
The lack of an 'important' mid or post-credit scene underlines the feel of Superman as a film that is introducing a big new cinematic universe, yes, but also is telling its own self-contained story that's making a statement in and of itself. Gunn does a deft job of layering in plenty of elements that can be used later in other projects without ever lingering on them or gratuitously highlighting that you should pay attention to this guy or to some doohickey because it's going to be important in another show or film.
Yes, this film includes characters like Rick Flag Sr., with Frank Grillo reprising the role he originated in Creature Commandos and will continue in Peacemaker Season 2. But for those who aren't aware of any of that, he's just a Washington DC power player. Nathan Fillion will reprise his role as Guy Gardner in the Lanterns TV show, but the movie doesn't go out of its way to name-drop Hal Jordan or John Stewart or belabor that Guy isn't the only Lantern, it just presents him as the superpowered, arrogant a-hole he is.
This is a Superman film focused on this particular story, and Clark rightfully remains at the center of the movie from start to finish, despite the other superpowered characters in his orbit. It doesn't repeat the mistakes of some messier superhero films, which often feel preoccupied with various plot threads and characters aiming towards something down the line.
Gunn's 'let this story stand on its own' approach extends to the credits and connects to his overall philosophy on how to craft a superhero universe now that he's the guy calling the shots. As he recently explained to EW, he doesn't love the idea of using a post-credit scene to tease a brand new character or storyline without a locked-in specific plan for them down the line. Gunn uses his own tease of Adam Warlock's arrival in the credits of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as an example, noting that by the time he was actually writing Guardians Vol. 3, Warlock wasn't an easy fit in the story he was telling, yet now he felt beholden to include him.
Gunn has also stressed repeatedly that no movie will be fully greenlit and produced by DC Studios without a complete script in place, and you can see some crossover with this mandate and why he didn't want to, say, put a scene in the middle of the credits of Superman where we meet Brainiac or General Zod. He's acknowledged their plans to do more with this version of Superman, of course, but without a specific follow-up already 100% in place (script included), Gunn likely doesn't want to bind himself to anything that might not actually make the most sense later on. Which is why the movie's one actual blatant tease, for Supergirl, is the one that he would feel comfortable with - because that movie's actually been filmed and is a done deal!
The most important goal for Superman, more than declaring 'here is the new DCU,' was making sure this was a great Superman movie, and Gunn has excelled in that regard, delivering what is easily the best film for the character since Richard Donner's beloved version in 1978. The Lois and Clark dynamic is excellent (fueled by the wonderful chemistry between Corenswet and Brosnahan), while the juxtaposition between Clark's Superman HQ at the Fortress of Solitude and the loving home Martha and Jonathan Kent have given him is expertly defined. Martha and Clark feel like just the sort of salt of the Earth, loving, caring people you can believe raised a man as good as Clark.
This version of Superman is exactly the sort of sweet, kind and perhaps sometimes endearingly naive hero he should be, without feeling like he's too old-fashioned or out of touch to invest in. The way this Superman goes out of his way to try and save every single life he can, whether it be innocent people targeted by villains, dogs and squirrels (!) in the line of fire, or even a giant kaiju he's fighting, makes him stand out as someone who truly feels like a person everyone should, yet few do, pattern themselves after. But at the same time, when he needs to go all out in a fight, rest assured, he does so, and it's awesome - just while making sure to also keep an eye out for anyone in danger as a result of the fight.
The movie is a joy to watch, exuding pure comic book-derived joy in a way we haven't really seen in live-action since Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, which is insane considering how many comic book movies have opened since then. When the credits began to roll on Gunn's film, I knew I'd happily welcome more of this version of Superman, but most of all, I wanted to rewatch this movie as soon as possible (which is probably why I've already seen it twice, with a third viewing already planned).
So yeah, Gunn could have moved the Superigirl cameo so that it was the post-credits scene, to leave off on a bigger 'here's what's next' hype move, but that just wasn't necessary. Because even if Gunn had removed the Supergirl scene entirely, Superman would still be a joyous, exciting, feel-good movie that doesn't require any baton passing to feel satisfying.
As Clark himself might say, that's the darn truth.