This weekend I saw Spider-Man: Far From Home. I enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming, and I think Spider-Man is even cooler in Avengers: Infinity War. I didn’t have any crazy expectations for Far From Home, but I knew it was supposed to be the final film of the MCU story up to this point. This isn’t a review of the movie, but a concerned thought regarding the end credit scenes. My general non-spoiler statement is: the end credit scenes took away from the movie. So I say skip the end credits scenes and you’re probably going to enjoy FFH a little more. Otherwise here’s my opinion on them and what they ruined for me.

SPOILERS AHEAD regarding Mysterio and the end credit scenes.

Overall I think that Spider-Man: Homecoming may be a better movie than FFH. I wouldn’t say that FFH is bad, but it’s more nontraditional. Spider-Man didn’t seem like a hero and didn’t exactly feel like the main character. This would make sense in the first Spider-Man movie, but we’ve already seen that he’s a hero at this point. The movie is about Peter trying to start a relationship with MJ while on a class trip. While Peter continually fails to get any closer to being with MJ a bunch of superhero stuff happens around them that Peter doesn’t want any part of. This is fine, but I guess it’s not quite the Spider-Man action I want to see. It seems like a lot of comedic setups and payoffs until the end of the movie. The movie is fun but feels like it’s not quite here nor there.

The plus side to this and the balance to Peter seeming like a whining side character is Mysterio. I never thought I’d see Mysterio as a live action character or that he could even be cool. Mysterio starts out as an ally to Spider-Man but ends up being a devious villain. Between his costume and action sequences, he steals every scene he is in. I really enjoyed the depiction of the character and the feverishly driven portrayal by Jake Gyllenhaal. Mysterio seemed like he knew what he wanted and would do anything to get it. Mysterio is why I enjoyed the movie and would rewatch it.

The movie ends and it’s fairly clear we won’t be seeing Mysterio again. Although that’s unfortunate I liked the final battle and the way his story ended. Then the first end credit scene plays. Mysterio releases a video blaming all the death and chaos on Spider-Man and gives away Spider-Man’s true identity. I feel this scene is out of character for his depiction in the rest of the movie. I suddenly didn’t like Mysterio or understand his motivation. He seemed focused throughout the movie and never really had a personal grudge against Spider-Man. He actually seemed to respect Peter, but they ended up on opposite sides. Then suddenly he seemed desperate and weak and out to get Peter with the video he released. Mysterio really didn’t seem like his goal was to ruin Peter’s life at any point in the movie. He was set to kill Peter, but only because he could spoil his plan. The video he made and somehow posthumously released doesn’t help him achieve any of his goals.

The scene just didn’t seem right and hurt the character in my opinion. He went from being a driven psycho to a desperate guy who wanted to get payback on a kid. Why not leave Mysterio be and let a new villain release this information as a tease for the next movie. Mysterio could have been working with another villain and passed on the information. I feel the scene twisted his character to serve a greater purpose and jumpstart the next movie. The scene did bring back the original J. Jonah Jameson played by J.K. Simmons which is nice, but I already had a bad taste in my mouth by that point.

The second end credits scene did an even bigger disservice to the viewers. We learn through a funny reveal that Nick Fury is in space with the Skrulls. This means that Fury and Maria Hill were never actually in the movie and didn’t help Spider-Man. It was actually Talos from Captain Marvel and another Skrull in disguise doing Fury a favor. This makes the movie seem cheap. It doesn’t really affect the outcome, but at the same time, it does have some repercussions. Fury and Spider-Man never talked and worked together or got to know each other better. It means Fury was okay with going on vacation and leaving Skrulls responsible for the safety of Earth. It means that end credits scenes can affect big aspects of a movie such as who was actually in it. If the goal is to trick the audience they already succeeded with the misleading trailers, Mysterio being a hero and the multiverse not being real so why continue after the movie?

After I watched this scene I liked the movie less. The movie had enough comedy and lightheartedness without making a joke of the few serious characters that were in it. Why not make Fury’s assistant, Dmitri a Skrull and have a funny interaction between him and Fury for doing something not human. Even having Hill be on vacation and having a Skrull stand-in would have fewer ramifications and still get a laugh. Fury and Hill both never being there and Fury being good with that feels out of place. It just seems like a moment of comedy is more important than the integrity of the characters. The gotcha feeling after the end credits scene is cute, but it doesn’t make me enjoy the movie more.

This isn’t the first time the end credits have hurt a character though. Nick Fury got a similar treatment in the end credits scene of Captain Marvel. Although the movie was full of fun and jokes they still had to break down his serious character just a little bit more. They provided us the reason for his iconic eye patch. As a spy and soldier, we all assume that the patch is from a heroic battle saving the world or fighting for his country. The end credit scenes let us know that it was from a cat scratching his face. Now there’s nothing special or mysterious about his eye patch. Although it is funny for a minute it is now part of the character’s story forever and I think it makes the character more goofy and unreliable.

Although I didn’t like the end credits for Captain Marvel, the FFH end credits sting a lot worse. I don’t think these quick little scenes should be able to dictate so much about a film or character. I think it’s different to have these scenes be so impactful, but I don’t think it’s particularly clever. They are extra and should provide more, not define. These scenes can bridge the gap and help explain the story, but they shouldn’t be able to ruin a character or the way I feel about the movie I just watched. Hopefully, this trend doesn’t continue. We’re in new territory now that the first wave of the MCU is over, but I don’t think we should pay any less respect to the content and characters.