Now that Captain America: The Winter Soldier has taken over theaters worldwide, word is traveling about the two scenes shown during the credits. Ever since Nick Fury stepped out of the shadows to tell Tony Stark about The Avengers Initiative, fans have come to expect post-credit scenes to help further the stories along in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, some of these teasers can leave non-comic book fans in the dark and scratching their heads. To this point, the most notable reveal that audiences have been confused by, was the reveal of Thanos in the mid-credit scene for The Avengers. While not as easy to decipher as say the discovery of Thor’s hammer in New Mexico desert, the mid-credit scene for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is leaving some fans scratching their heads in confusion, while introducing 3 important characters, setting the ground work for The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Set in an underground bunker, it is revealed that HYDRA is still very much active around the world, and introduces the first new, and noteworthy character;
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, the monocled HYDRA officer, played by German actor Thomas Kretschmann, will also appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and potentially beyond that in the MCU. In the comics, Baron von Strucker was the Red Skull’s second-in-command during WWII, and eventually rose to lead HYDRA, which was led by the Red Skull in the first Captain America film, and was shown to have inserted itself in not only S.H.I.E.L.D. but also the US Government during The Winter Soldier. He is a consummate military strategist and spy. An exceptional hand-to-hand combatant, swordsman, and marksman. He uses serums developed by HYDRA, which enable him to maintain his top physical form, and slows his aging, allowing him to physically remain the same, despite being advanced in age.
From Marvel’s wikia:
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, a former Nazi officer, was one of the leaders of Hydra and an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and the interests of the United States of America and of the free world in general. He was physically augmented to be nearly ageless and was seemingly killed in the past to return to plague the world with schemes of world domination and genocide time and time again.
Von Strucker is also known for having and using a weapon called the Satan Claw, which is not visible in this scene. No word on if we’ll ever actually see it in the MCU. However one weapon we do see is Loki’s staff, last seen in The Avengers. It’s presumed that the staff contains one of the Infinity stones, and that HYDRA could possibly be using it to control “the twins” but neither of those points have been confirmed.
As for “the twins” they are the two other major introductions: Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), better known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
In the comics, Wanda and Pietro are mutants who are the children of Magneto. They were once members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, who eventually joined the Avengers.
Quicksilver is a mutant with the ability to travel at extreme speeds, while his twin sister Scarlet Witch has the power of probability manipulating and reality warping (basically, think magic) With the existence of mutants not acknowledged in the MCU, and Marvel unable to acknowledge the twins’ parentage, it’s not entirely clear on how they’ll be explained, but we might have gotten a glimpse at that with what was
Strucker refers to them as beings of the “Age of Miracles” as he looks on at his captives, who are being kept in separate cages, which shows Quicksilver using his super-speed to try to break free, while Scarlet Witch is shown sitting in the floor using her powers to get some blocks to float in mid-air. Little is currently known of what we’ll know of “the twins” once they’re introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but this proved to be a good initial introduction to them, giving you a small glimpse at their powers. It’s also a possibility that the location they are currently being held is the location in Europe that Nick Fury mentions at the end of The Winter Soldier, but again, that’s something we’ll have to wait to find out in the Avengers sequel.
As for the second scene, it can be interpreted a couple of different ways, but regardless of how you take it, the scene showing Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier visiting the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum likely will tie into Captain America 3. If you’re familiar with the Winter Soldier storyline in the comics, you know there is still plenty of story to tell.
So what did you think of the mid-credit and end-credit scenes for Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Does it get you excited any for future films or feel they dropped the ball somewhat? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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