Marvel heroes of the world, unite!
Everyone knows by now that a
superhero movie ain't over till it's over, and that means waiting until
the very end of the credits to catch a last-minute bonus scene. And so
it goes with the arrival of the summer-launching "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
— but we don't get a teaser for a future wall-crawler adventure or
spinoff. Instead, the mid-credit sequence is from a rival comic book
property from a rival studio, Fox's "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
Sony, which produced the Spidey sequel, confirmed to Yahoo the hero
linkage after the sequel opened in the U.K. Wednesday and word began to
spread online of the unusual promotional crossover. But American
audiences will have to wait for the film to open on May 2 to see it on
the big screen.
"Yes, there is an 'X-Men' coda
during the closing credits of 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2,'" a studio rep
said. "As you know, moviegoers have come to expect a coda on many of
their Marvel films, and they're often disappointed when there isn't one.
We saw this as a win for fans and audiences everywhere as it's the next
Marvel movie out of the gate."
Empire
was among the first outlets to report the inclusion the "X-Men" scene,
which features a clutch of mutants working their X-powers in a
large-scale battle sequence:
"The scene featured sees Jennifer
Lawrence's Mystique, Lucas Till's Havok and Evan Jonigkeit's Toad taking
on William Stryker (Josh Helman) and his military men. Without wishing
to spoil anything, let's just say that Mystique once again demonstrates
her formidable fighting skills in the brief segment."
According to our cohorts at Yahoo UK, the "action-packed sequence" seems to take place during the Vietnam War and ends with a plane taking off.
[Related: Final 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Trailer: Wolverine Gets Mutant All-Stars Together]
The addition of the clip appears to be recent: the early critics screening of "Spider-Man 2" did not include the "X-Men" scene."The entire credit sequence is a coda of sorts," the studio publicist says, "opening with a virtual schematic created to tease comic book fans regarding what's ahead for them in the Spider-Man universe." Sony already has two villain-themed spinoffs in the offing, "Sinister Six" and "Venom."
[Related: The Daily Bugle Hints at Villains for Future 'Spider-Man' Spinoffs]
While rival studios might form
uneasy alliances to help snag Marvel-sized audiences, there's no chance
Wolverine or Magneto (or the Fox-owned Fantastic Four) would ever make
an appearance in an actual Spidey movie as long as three different
studios control the separate Marvel properties (Marvel parent company
Disney handles the third piece of the puzzle, the Avengers and related
characters in the so-called "Marvel Cinematic Universe"). So fans will
have to remain content with three studios building expansive franchises
around their distinct collection of licensed characters.
According to Variety,
the unusual cooperation between the studios came about as part of the
contract negotations with the film's director, Marc Webb. Webb was under
contract with Fox after previously making "(500) Days of Summer," and
as a stipulation for him signing onto the "Spider-Man" sequel, Sony
agreed to a free promotion for the new "X-Men."
This kind of cross-studio
promotion isn't a new thing. The opening scene of "The Dark Knight
Rises" (2012), a Warner Bros. project, was attached to Imax prints of
Paramount's "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" when it hit Imax
theaters in 2011. Seeing the dastardly doings of the villainous Bane on
the large-scale format inspired some advance ticket sales, as "The Dark
Knight Rises" broke Imax records with a $19 million opening weekend.
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