10 Worst Sequel Baiting Moments In Movies
Morbius' post-credits scenes still hurt.
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00:00When Iron Man concluded with a post-credits scene of Nick Fury teasing the Avengers, it
00:05was regarded as a very risky move. At the time, the biggest comic fans didn't honestly
00:10believe they would see Earth's mightiest heroes on the big screen within a couple of
00:14years. And boy were we wrong. But ever since the MCU became the most dominant franchise
00:20in cinema, it would seem that every other film is jumping on the bandwagon, teasing
00:24the prospect of sequels, prequels and crossovers.
00:28So, with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, here with the 10 worst sequel-baiting
00:33moments in recent movies.
00:3610. Artemis Fowl
00:38After the success of Harry Potter, Hollywood scrambled to adapt every book series they
00:43could find into a motion picture, hoping to strike gold. But even the greatest story can
00:50fall apart when it transitions to cinema.
00:52The Chronicles of Narnia flopped, the Divergent series remains unfinished and Percy Jackson
00:57taps out after only two movies. But few film adaptations have failed as spectacularly as
01:04Artemis Fowl. With visionary director Kenneth Branagh taking the reins of the production,
01:09it felt like he would do justice to this classic story. I mean, this is the guy who adapted
01:13obscure superhero Thor for the big screen, turning him into an icon. Surely adapting
01:19a story about a sinister kid genius battling fairies would be right up his street, right?
01:24Wrong. Artemis Fowl was ripped apart for its childish jokes, its weak dialogue and
01:30the pointless changes to the source material. I mean, the fact that the titular character
01:35was changed to be more likeable, despite being the main villain, just goes to show that the
01:39filmmakers clearly didn't understand the premise.
01:42But considering the failed franchise concludes with Artemis and the gang flying off in a
01:46helicopter for their next mission, it was obvious the studio genuinely believed that
01:51they had a hit on their hands.
01:539. Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City At its core, Resident Evil is a survivor horror
02:00game. And even though that's blatantly obvious, Paul W.S. Anderson never got the memo, since
02:06the questionable director's adaptation of Capcom's cherished series were dumb action
02:10flicks with less brains than the zombies.
02:13So when it was announced that the reboot Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City was set to be
02:18an outright horror set in the mansion from the game, fans felt that the franchise might
02:24be redeemed.
02:25But, somehow, Welcome to Raccoon City ruined Resident Evil's name more than Resident
02:30Evil 6. Every character acts like an idiot, the dialogue is worse than the source material
02:36somehow, the scares never work and the fan service is forced. Except the itchy tasty
02:41bit. Kudos for that.
02:42This reboot is so badly put together that you might actually find yourself defending
02:47Paul W.S. Anderson's version after all. But, judging by the end credits scene, it
02:52would seem that the studio had high hopes for it.
02:55In the scene we see Albert Wesker, the game's big bad, don his iconic sunglasses as he teams
03:01up with fan favourite Ada Wong. Even though this moment hints that there's more to come,
03:05viewers could tell within minutes of watching Welcome to Raccoon City that it never stood
03:10a chance at creating a franchise.
03:12Number 8, Jem and the Holograms Being a Hasbro-based property, the animated
03:18series Jem was clearly made to sell toys. But then again, what cartoon made in the 80s
03:23wasn't? Jem centres around a musician and her band going on adventures across the globe
03:28while battling rival music gangs.
03:31Even though the show could have been a soulless cash grab, Jem had a lot of heart, catchy
03:35tunes and wonderful animation. So, when a film adaptation called Jem and the Holograms
03:41was announced, fans were beyond excited. But not only was the movie obliterated by critics,
03:46it only made a measly $2 million worldwide. Nevertheless, somebody overseeing the project
03:52was so certain Jem and the Holograms would be a success, a teaser for a follow-up was
03:57inserted in the mid-credits.
03:59In the scene, the evil music producer Erica, fresh from losing her job, stumbles into an
04:04alleyway where she meets the band leader of the Misfits. Because the Misfits served as
04:09the recurring villain of the original show, this scene implied the band would be the main
04:13antagonist for the sequel. But considering that most Jem fans didn't even know that this
04:18abomination existed, the likeliness of a sequel seeing the light of day is basically non-existent.
04:24Number 7, Robin Hood. There are few tales told more than that of Robin Hood. And because
04:32practically everyone is familiar with the story of the vigilante from Loxley who steals
04:37from the rich to give to the poor, it's actually quite surprising that a big-time studio hasn't
04:42swooped in and tried to make this into a franchise sooner. But in 2018, Hollywood gave it a shot.
04:47Hot off the success of Kingsman, which we'll get to later in this list, Taron Egerton was
04:52cast as the fabled archer in Otto Barthurst's Robin Hood.
04:57Even though the action-packed blockbuster concluded with Robin defeating the Sheriff
05:00of Nottingham, the final scene shows the bombastic bowman challenging the new Sheriff, teasing
05:06their rivalry in a future storyline. Sadly, or thankfully, depending on how you want to
05:10look at it, the sequel never came into fruition due to the film's lack of creative personality
05:16or visual distinction, and therefore it kind of just came across as derivative schlock.
05:21Because it tries to put a modern spin on a medieval folktale, it feels like a clone of
05:262017's King Arthur Legend of the Sword, which also attempted and failed to create a franchise.
05:336. Elita Battle Angel Elita Battle Angel centres around a recently
05:39reactivated android who wakes up in the distant future. After she learns a mysterious sky
05:44city called Zalem has caused the world to fall into ruin, our enormously eyed heroine
05:49does all she can to bring peace to society. Now, being 16 years in the making, you would
05:55have expected this manga adaptation to have been a masterpiece, but unfortunately Elita
06:00failed to win over critics and barely made a profit.
06:04Although Elita has its defenders, we can all agree that the last scene was a bit cringe.
06:10As the titular robot points her sword defiantly towards Zalem in the closing moments, we see
06:14the city's founder, Nova, gazing down at the city. At first, you can't see Nova's face
06:20properly due to the goofy visor he's wearing, but as he pulls his spectacles off, it's revealed
06:25that Nova is played by Edward Norton. Despite the fact this is supposed to be a
06:29profound moment, this glorified cameo doesn't add anything to the story and feels like it
06:34was inserted just so viewers could go, oh, it's Edward Norton.
06:38Now, at this moment in time, the jury is still out as to whether a sequel is in the works,
06:43but whatever the verdict, it was a dumb idea to end the film with a three-time Oscar nominated
06:49actor sneering into the camera while wearing a silly wig.
06:53Number five, The Predator. How do you get the guy behind Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice
06:58Guys, and Iron Man 3 to make a Predator sequel and still screw it up? I mean, it sounds impossible,
07:05and yet the powers that be found a way. Make no mistake, Shane Black, who played Hawkins
07:11in the first Predator, has a gift for witty banter, creative action, and subverting expectations.
07:17As a result, it seemed like 2018's Predator could recapture what made the original so
07:23special. But instead, we got the worst entry in the
07:25franchise, not including the alien crossovers, of course, but those films are in a league
07:29of their own. Even though The Predator boasts a strong cast, it's not enough when the script
07:34is this abominable. I mean, who thought a Predator sequel needed a magical kid in the
07:39plot and a message about climate change? And because this film was re-shot at the last
07:44minute due to a poor screen test, it does make one wonder how awful the first cut must
07:50have been. But since the final scene shows our hero donning
07:53the alien suit to fight the Predators, it was obvious the filmmakers hoped a sequel
07:58would be greenlit. Fortunately, the studio had enough sense to scrap the follow-up.
08:02Number 4, Moonfall. Roland Emmerich recently affirmed that he
08:06won't be fanboying over Marvel any time soon. Which is ironic, considering he can't stop
08:12imitating the MCU's habit of hinting at sequels. He had Godzilla conclude with a to-be-continued.
08:19Independence Day Resurgence ended with such unsubtle sequel bait, the cast might as well
08:24have just stared at the camera shouting, there's gonna be another one! Even though there wasn't.
08:29And sadly, Emmerich doesn't seem to have learned from his mistakes, as he did intend for his
08:34most recent work, Moonfall, to launch a franchise. In the climax, conspiracy theorist Houseman
08:40destroys whatever the hell the villain is, sacrificing himself in the process. But in
08:44the final scene, we learn the Moon created a copy of Houseman. I know, it doesn't really
08:49make sense, just go with it. The Moon's creator looks at Houseman eagerly, telling him they
08:54must get to work to prepare for a greater threat looming on the horizon. Although Emmerich
09:00did intend to shoot two sequels back-to-back, this idea was quickly dashed when it made
09:05a pitiful $57 million in the box office. And considering that this is the least successful
09:11mainstream movie that Emmerich has ever directed, I think it's safe to say that Moonfall 2
09:17isn't happening.
09:18Number 3, The King's Man. The third entry into Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman
09:23series takes place during World War I, and focuses on the creation of Britain's biggest
09:29spy agency. Despite some great action and Reese Ifan's scene-shooing performance as
09:34Rasputin, there's nothing in The King's Man that blew audiences away like the original.
09:40The prequel also feels so disconnected from the overarching plot of the franchise, it
09:45would have worked better if it was a standalone. Nevertheless, Vaughn seemed confident in its
09:49success, which is why The King's Man concludes with a big, fat sequel tease.
09:54Although the British spies seemingly destroyed the flock in the climax, the mid-credits scene
09:59reveals that one survivor, Hanneson, has taken charge of the organisation. Preparing to destroy
10:05the Kingsman, Hanneson meets his new ally, a young Austrian soldier called Adolf Hitler.
10:11Although the filmmakers clearly expected this reveal to leave jaws on the floor, it just
10:17felt really forced, and seemed a little bit like it was put in just for a laugh.
10:21Whether you enjoyed this mid-credits sequence or not, it doesn't seem to have any lasting
10:26effects considering that the film barely broke even, and as a result, it's highly likely
10:31that Vaughn will probably abandon the prequel series and probably put more focus back into
10:37the modern franchise.
10:39Number 2, Morbius. Sony's most recent attempts to continue their Spider-Man-less cinematic
10:46universe was such a bomb, both financially and critically, it's not even funny.
10:51Well, okay, maybe it is a little bit funny, especially some of the memes that Morbius
10:55has inspired.
10:57Thanks to Morbius's underwhelming effects, incoherent plot and rote performances, this
11:01vampire anti-hero flick didn't win anyone over.
11:05Also, why did Morbius have a dance number? Did Sony learn anything from Spider-Man 3?
11:11But the one element of Morbius that received the most scrutiny is the post-credits scene.
11:16In the scene in question, Michael Keaton's character Adrian Toomes is transported to
11:20Morbius's universe due to the events which occurred in Spider-Man No Way Home.
11:25After Toomes inexplicably acquires his vulture outfit, he meets Morbius, unsubtly name-drops
11:30Spider-Man and teases the Sinister Six showing up in a future project.
11:35Even though the producers thought that this would get viewers psyched, all it really did
11:39was confirm how unstructured this cinematic universe really is.
11:44And it also feels a little bit like Sony are so unconfident in their own work that they're
11:49just clinging to their connections to the MCU in order to keep viewers interested.
11:54Although Jared Leto would like to see Morbius turning up in Blade, I wouldn't hold my breath.
11:591. Zack Snyder's Justice League Snyder fans hyped Zack's Justice League
12:05up so much that it seemed almost inconceivable that this director's cut could live up to
12:10the expectations. But for the most part, the second version
12:14of Justice League, which is technically the first, knocked it out of the park.
12:19The characterisation of Cyborg and Flash were significantly better.
12:23Steppenwolf was reshaped into a compelling villain, and Superman's CGI lip was nowhere
12:28to be seen. So, when one of the closing scenes depicts
12:32Supes pulling off his shirt to reveal the S symbol on his suit, it felt like the perfect
12:37moment to end the movie. Although that is how Justice League was meant
12:40to conclude, there was a change of plan in the 11th hour.
12:44Even though the film that Zack envisioned was done back in 2017, the acclaimed director
12:49decided to tack on three scenes at the end, which tease Ben Affleck's Batman film Dark
12:54Side and Martian Manhunter. But since the Batman film was axed and the
12:59other characters appeared earlier, these three scenes added absolutely nothing to the story.
13:04Now, when Zack Snyder's Justice League was released in 2021, Warner Bros made it crystal
13:09clear that they had no intention of creating a sequel to this story.
13:14So it does make you question why Snyder decided to include these extra scenes when there was
13:19going to be no payoff for them.
13:21And that concludes our list. If you can think of any that we missed, then
13:25do let us know in the comments below. And while you're there, don't forget to like
13:28and subscribe and tap that notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there.
13:33And I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
13:37I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real soon.