More 'Jumanji' Movies Could Be Coming Because '90s Nostalgia Truly Never Dies

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle might be a spiritual sequel to the beloved 1995 Robin Williams classic Jumanji, but it's clear to even the most casual movie-goer that the new film is attempting to launch its own franchise. Surprisingly, the Jumanji post-credits scene doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean a sequel is entirely out of the question. As we've learned before, the presence of a post-credits scene doesn't guarantee a follow-up film, and the absence of one doesn't mean a second movie is dead on arrival. So, why doesn't Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle have a post-credits scene and what does it mean for a possible sequel?

Warning: spoilers ahead. Following in the footsteps of the original film, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ends with our heroes — Spencer, Fridge, Bethany, Martha, and Alex — winning Jumanji and being let out of the game. Jumanji, for now, has been conquered. And not only do the teenagers making it out of their virtual prison (this new version of Jumanji is a video game, not a board game), but they also destroy it once and for all. The film ends with the group smashing the entire game and console with a bowling ball and leaving the scraps by a dumpster in an ally behind the school.

Unlike Jumanji, which ended with new kids finding the game, allowing the cycle to live on, the new film does not end with anyone finding the game. In fact, for all intents and purposes, the Jumanji game appears to be dead. And the absence of a post-credits scene seems to confirm that Jumanji is no more — or does it?

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle doesn't have a post-credits scene, but the credits do end with one ominous detail: the drums. Fans of Jumanji will immediately recognize the beating of the drums that signals terrible Jumanji consequences for players. The drum sounds play frequently throughout the film, right before the teens are going to face a new challenge or danger in the game. Playing the drum sounds at the end of the credits is a message to fans: no one is ever really safe from Jumanji.

Though plans for a Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel have not yet been confirmed, it's easy to see that Sony and star Dwayne Johnson, who also worked as executive producer on the film, are hoping to spark a new franchise. As Forbes pointed out, Sony could use a successful franchise to battle the surge of superhero films from other studios and recent flops of their own. For his part, Johnson has never shied away from a franchise — he's already got his own Fast & Furious spin-off in the works — and the narrative decision to make the major stars of the film (Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Nick Jonas) avatars in a video game means they could return as stand-ins for completely different characters, offering brand new stories at every turn. It's actually a pretty genius concept for an action movie franchise.

What about the fact that the teens destroyed the Jumanji game, you ask? Welcome to the Jungle closes that plot hole effectively in the opening of the film. After recovering the board game seen in the 1995 movie from the beach, a man gives the game to his teenage son, Alex, who, of course, has no interest in an old board game. Overnight, the game transforms itself into a video game to appeal to Alex and get him to play the game. If Jumanji has the power to turn itself into a video game, then it's safe to say it has the power to repair itself from any bowling-ball related injuries. Post-credits scene or no post-credits scene, Jumanji will be back.