The Marvels End-Credits Scene Explained An Excellent MCU Future

Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for The Marvels.

The Big Picture

The post-credits scene introduces Monica Rambeau to the X-Men universe, confirming the introduction of mutants in the MCU.
The appearance of the Beast in The Marvels suggests that the X-Men will receive a major focus going forward.
Maria Rambeau's alternate version as Binary hints at untapped potential for all the Marvels and may help Monica cope with the loss of her mother.

The Marvels is a film that's packed full of surprises. Not only does director Nia DaCosta make the most of the film's breezy runtime, but she also crafts a fun - and rather poignant - journey involving Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani). The trio of heroines unite to stop the Kree warrior Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) from unleashing a power that would rip apart the very fabric of space and time.

It's eventually revealed that Dar-Benn seeks the power of the Quantum Bands, a set of artifacts that allow the user to control space and time - and Kamala happens to be in possession of one following the events of Ms. Marvel. Though Dar-Benn attempts to use the Quantum Bands to drain the Earth's sun, she ends up disintegrating - and tearing a hole through time and space. Monica, supercharged by Carol and Kamala's energies, pieces together the hole but is apparently lost. This being a Marvel Studios movie, there is a post-credits scene - and it not only introduces a team that fans have been dying to see but it also hints at some major ramifications for future MCU projects.

The Marvels

PG-13SuperheroActionAdventure

Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.

Release Date November 10, 2023 Director Nia DaCosta Cast Brie Larson , Samuel L. Jackson , Zawe Ashton , Iman Vellani Runtime 105 minutes

Monica Rambeau Is Introduced to the X-Men

The post-credits scene finds Monica awake...and face to face with her mother Maria (Lashana Lynch), who died while Monica disappeared during The Blip. But she isn't alone: someone has been monitoring her vitals. That someone is Henry "Hank" McCoy, aka the Beast - and once again, the blue-furred genius is portrayed by Kelsey Grammer. McCoy is also sporting a redesign, thanks to some CGI touch-ups, that makes him look closer to his Jim Lee-designed appearance in the comics. To top it all off, throughout the scene John Ottman's score from X2: X-Men United and X-Men: Days of Future Past plays, confirming that Monica has landed in the universe where 20th Century Fox's X-Men movies take place.

This is a big deal for several reasons. Marvel Studios has slowly been introducing mutants - Patrick Stewart played an alternate version of the X-Men's founder Professor Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Kamala's powers were revealed to be a mutation - but Beast is the first full-fledged member of the X-Men to appear in an MCU film. The Marvels won't be the last time we see the world of the old X-Men movies, as Deadpool 3 will see Ryan Reynolds's Merc with a Mouth encountering Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and a host of other heroes from Fox's Marvel movies. With X-Men '97 in the wings and Marvel Studios actively seeking out writers to pitch a new version of Marvel's merry mutants, it looks like the X-Men will receive a major focus going forward.

Then there's the multiversal aspect of it all. Slowly but surely, the MCU's "Multiverse Saga" has teased a conflict that spans space and time. That conflict will more than likely come to a head in Avengers: Secret Wars, which is looking more and more influenced by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's 2015 miniseries. In the 2015 Secret Wars, a series of "incursions" - events where two parallel worlds occupy the same space - caused the multiverse to collapse in on itself. Such a story would allow for different versions of Marvel heroes to occupy the same space - and for the MCU to receive a blank slate going forward.

Maria Rambeau Is Back - But As A Different Marvel Hero

Though Monica is overjoyed at first to see her mother, she quickly realizes that this is a different version of Maria. The alternate Maria reveals that she is wearing an orange and white outfit, and even talks with Beast like they're close friends. While a different version of Maria who gained Captain Marvel's powers appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, this version appears to be based on the cosmic hero Binary. Binary was born when Carol Danvers was experimented on by the parasitic alien race known as the Brood, which unlocked a new level of power. Now Danvers was able to tap into the energy of a white hole - becoming one of the most powerful heroines in the Marvel Universe. She'd join up with the space pirates known as the Starjammers, and help the Avengers during the "Operation: Galactic Storm" storyline which saw the Kree and Shi'ar go to war.

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Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani are a winning trio in Nia DaCosta's first foray into the MCU.

Maria becoming Binary hints at untapped potential for all the Marvels, as their powers hinge on the manipulation of energy. Carol is able to absorb and redirect it, Monica has complete mastery over the electromagnetic spectrum which allows her to turn intangible as well as shoot lasers and fly, and Kamala can generate hard light constructs. Throughout The Marvels, the heroines have to deal with their powers becoming "entangled" and causing them to switch places - eventually using it to their advantage while fighting Dar-Benn's forces. Unlocking more of her powers could also be the key Monica needs to get home. After all, even in superhero universes or alternate superhero universes as the case may be, a hero can accomplish any goal by bending the laws of physics. Monica's proven to be the expert at this.

Encountering a different version of Maria may also help Monica to cope with the loss of her mother. When Thanos used the Infinity Stones to eradicate half of all life in the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, Monica was among the missing. The Avengers eventually brought everyone back in Avengers: Endgame - but WandaVision showed that Monica had blipped back right as Maria succumbed to cancer. The Marvels sees Monica and Carol attempting to deal with this loss, which only deepens when it's revealed that Carol visited Earth and learned that Maria's cancer had gone back into remission. Though they seem to reconcile, seeing Maria - even if it's a different version - brings back a well of memories for Monica. It remains to be seen if future Marvel projects will touch upon this plot development.

The Marvels is now available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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