'Logan' Director Defends His Criticism of Post-Credits Scenes

Logan director James Mangold is doubling down on his view of post-credits scenes in movies.

Mangold voiced a strongly negative opinion of post-credits scenes during an interview released earlier this week. After hearing feedback from fans, Mangold stands by his assessment but clarifies that it is the way those scenes are used that he objects to, not the scenes themselves.

"Many folks commented on my diatribe re: end credits scenes," Mangold tweeted. "Good points made by some who disagree. My vehemence comes from a belief these scenes r cinematic MSG/crack. Of course they feel good. They are designed to do that, like ads, as they hook you to buy the next film/s and at the same time, I feel like the omnipresent expectation of them cheapens the integrity of a theatrical experience as the movie doesn't stick its ending but rather dribbles to an end with a series of pleasing vignettes/ads for the thing they will sell you next year.

"So its not so much the scenes I despise as much as I fear that movies (an art form I deeply love) are not advanced when they are no longer functioning as a form with a beginning middle and end but rather as part of a serialized money machine. These scenes promote a slightly false sense of fully realized 'universe' as if everyone behind scenes knows exactly what's next in a saga, when the truth is a bit less charted despite what many tell a sycophantic press that makes $ on the 'universes' & the gossip mill they create"

The idea that these movies "promote a slightly false sense of a fully realized 'universe'" and that they are in part advertising for what comes next is something that these shared universe movie franchises have in common with the comic books they're trying to emulate. Whether that's a pro or a con is a matter of opinion.

Mangold goes on to single out one particular pro-post-credits scene argument for being weak.

"One more thing," he tweeted. "The argument that these scs. make people watch end credits is just lame. If you have to offer shiny objects to keep people watching the names of the crew, then they are not showing an ounce of respect for the crew. Just waiting like dogs for milk bones."

Mangold directed two Wolverine movies as part of the X-Men movies franchise. The Wolverine did feature a post-credits scene that teased X-Men: Days of Future Past. Logan did not.

Logan currently has an 87.5 ComicBook.com Composite Score, the second highest ComicBook.com composite score of any comic book movie.

Logan also has a 4.48 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Rating, making it the highest rated comic book movie ever among ComicBook.com Users. Let us know what you thought of Logan by giving the film your own personal ComicBook.com User Rating below.

Logan is now available in home media.

Upcoming X-Men movies include Deadpool 2 opening May 18th, X-Men: Dark Phoenix opening November 2nd, The New Mutants opening February 22, 2019, and Gambit, opening June 7, 2019.