The movie ends and the credits roll.

That used to be your cue to start heading to the parking lot to debrief with your friends.

But that was before the era of the post-credits scene.

In Marvel movies, post-credits scenes tease the next installment.

But comedies and horror movies like sinners have gotten in on the act,

offering one last joke or thrill that you'll miss if you don't stick around. Which leads us to ask,

is it really worth it to stick around? I'm Linda Holmes. And I'm Glenn Weldon,

and today we're talking about the state of the post-credit scene on pop culture

happy hour from NPR.

Joining us today are our co-hosts, Aisha Harris.

Hey, Aisha.

Hello, Glenn.

And Stephen Thompson.

Hey, Stephen.

Hello, Glenn.

Hey, there.

All right, just so we know what we're talking about here, we're going to call them post-credit scenes, but that's a catch-all term for anything that happens during or after the credits.

For example, Marvel movies often have a mid-credit scene. That's when you get the cast list and the writerers and the assistants to Ms. Johansson and no animals were harmed in motion picture of Association of America,

then bam, you get the actual post-credit scene. But Marvel didn't invent any of this.

Several films from the 60s and 70s would show things happening on screen as the credits rolled

over them. Films like the cannonball run would show bloopers. There's something about Mary, had the

entire cast lip sync to build me a buttercup. So the question becomes, how are we feeling just in

...