The Fate of the Furious is the eighth installment in the long-running Fast and Furious franchise, but it won't be the last. There are plans in place for at least two more films in the series to complete a ten film "saga," as well as preliminary talks going on about a number of possible spinoffs. So with the future of the franchise undoubtedly bright, it's a bit surprising that The Fate of the Furious post-credits scene doesn't exist. After all, wouldn't you think the series would want to get fans pumped for The Fast and the Furious 9?
In the past, the franchise has included post-credits scenes that not only teased future films in the franchise, but that also served as key scenes in their respective films. Beginning with Fast Five, which marked the series' change from a somewhat loosely-connected series of street racing films to a major blockbuster action franchise, post-credits scenes have become an expected part of the end of Fast & Furious films. The franchise's fifth film featured a scene that revealed the character of Letty Ortiz, believed killed early in the previous film, was still alive; which was the main plot of the next film. Then in Fast & Furious 6, the scene after the credits featured the death of the character Han at the hands of a mystery character played by Jason Statham, who in the next film would be revealed to be Deckard Shaw, the main antagonist of that film.
Furious 7 featured no extra scene, as it would have only served to tarnish the film's poignant ending that paid tribute to Paul Walker, as the actor died during production of the film. But with The Fate of the Furious, I think it's safe to say that most fans expected a tease for the ninth film, which already has a release date of April 19, 2019. So why didn't the film have an extra scene?
One reason could be that the details are still being worked out on what exactly the next film in the franchise will look like. There's a lot up in the air when it comes to the future of the franchise, especially when it comes to Dwayne Johnson's character. The actor told MTV News at the film's premiere that he hasn't yet committed to being in the 9th film, and talks are ongoing about his character's spinoff. So it could be that the filmmakers decided to just play it safe with the ending of The Fate of the Furious rather than promise something they ultimately wouldn't be able to deliver.
So there's no end-credits scene in The Fate of the Furious, which means you won't have to sit in the theater and watch a bunch of names scroll by for ten minutes after the movie ends. That's a good thing, right?
