Does ‘Overlord’ Have a Post-Credits Scene?

Moviegoers have been trained in recent years to assume every film was the birth of a shared universe or was a secret sequel to a seemingly disconnected film, causing us to analyze every frame or piece of dialogue in hopes of discovering Easter eggs that could tease the series' future. In the case of the sci-fi thriller Overlord, there is no scene after the credits that potentially teases what's to come, but, luckily, the film's plot does that before the credits roll.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Overlord

In the film, "On the eve of D-Day, a group of American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion's success, but as they approach their target, they begin to realize there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation. They find themselves fighting against supernatural forces, part of a Nazi experiment."

The first half of the film plays out like a straightforward World War II movie about soldiers attempting to pull off a seemingly impossible mission. Once the squad gets their first hints at the monstrous creations the Nazis are hiding in their fortress, that's when all hell breaks loose, with the film then fully embracing its ambitious sci-fi narrative threads.

The ways in which those horror elements are not only explored, but become the primary elements of the second half of the narrative, would make it seem likely that, in the film's final moments, a piece of dialogue or visual reference would tease that this film was connected to a more familiar property. Instead, the film's conclusion might have teased that a follow-up film could forge an all-new narrative.

Despite the American soldiers suffering casualties along the way, they achieve their objective, not only by destroying their target, but also by eliminating all evidence of the Nazis' supernatural research. The Americans know that these powers are too great for any military organization to possess, even if used for "good." In one of the film's final scenes, a superior officer asks a survivor of the ordeal if there was any truth to the rumors about the supernatural research, which the soldier denies. He and his surviving allies are then assigned to a new company, as opposed to being sent home from the war.

This conclusion confirms that these soldiers might not have been the only ones to stumble across horrifying Nazi experiments, but also that those who have seen those experiments in person have covered them up. This could mean that a future film might allow the story to explore other soldiers coming across other experiments, all of which was ultimately covered up by the American military. Additionally, the survivors reluctantly accepting their new assignment could allow for them to become a go-to squad that potentially earns future assignments regarding otherworldly experiments by the Nazis.

While we doubt the franchise would go that route, the cover-up angle of these experiments could feasibly allow Overlord to exist in any universe in which World War II occurred, whether it be Saving Private Ryan or Inglorious Basterds. This film was produced by Bad Robot, who delivered us the Cloverfield films, which are defined by their tone more than their narratives. A future Overlord film could potentially focus on any military organization in any time period uncovering horrifying enemy research and be considered part of this franchise.

Whether or not we'll ever see a follow-up film is yet to be seen, with Overlord having just hit theaters, though if it becomes a financial success, we won't be surprised to see this movie's release as the birth of an all-new franchise, so feel free to sit through the credits to appreciate all of the talented people who contributed to the satisfying production.

Overlord is in theaters now.

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