The James Franco comedy “The Disaster Artist,” which looks at the making of the catastrophically bad 2003 cult classic “The Room,” is not the kind of movie you’d normally think would have a post-credits scene.
Sure, at the beginning of the credits there is some nifty split-screen action that shows you just how closely Franco and company re-created Tommy Wiseau’s unholy mess of a movie. But this is a far cry from a Marvel superhero movie looking to tease future installments with additional mid-credits and post-credits scenes, isn’t it?
Warning: Spoilers lurk below, though plot points are not high on the list of things that should get you to see “The Disaster Artist.”
There is, in fact, a scene at the very end of the film’s credits — and it’s there not to tease a sequel, but to satisfy a contract that Wiseau negotiated when he signed his life rights over to director James Franco.
The eccentric wannabe filmmaker, a mysterious figure who sounds vaguely Eastern European but claims to be from New Orleans, agreed to be portrayed in the film by Franco under a couple of stipulations: A “Disaster Artist” producer had to listen to his notes once he’d seen a rough cut, though they were under no obligation to follow those notes, and Wiseau himself got to film a scene with Franco.
“This was fascinating for us, because where should that scene go?” co-writer Scott Neustadter told TheWrap. “Who could Tommy play?” (Franco said he has tapes that show that Wiseau is essentially incapable of dropping his distinctive accent.)
Neustadter and his partner Michael H. Weber, with whom he co-wrote films that included “(500) Days of Summer” and “The Fault in Our Stars,” immediately thought of a scene in which Wiseau’s friend Greg Sestero gets an acting job in Romania.
But Sestero, on whose book “The Disaster Artist” is based, is played by Dave Franco, and Wiseau’s contract specified that his scene must be with James Franco.
“So we wrote this scene that took place at a Hollywood party,” said Neustadter, “without realizing that there’s no Hollywood party that would have two guys with that accent.”
Fortunately for them, Wiseau didn’t put in the contract that the scene had to be in the body of the movie (or anywhere in the movie, for that matter), which meant it could be exiled to the tail end of the credits to serve as “a Marvel tag,” in Neustadter’s words.
The scene is what Weber calls “dueling Wiseaus”: Franco, playing Wiseau, is at an outdoor party where he encounters Wiseau, playing somebody named Henry. The two trade fractured jabs and “Tommy” comments on “Henry’s” accent: “Where are you from, New Orleans?”
The trouble, said Neustadter and Weber, is that audiences don’t know the scene is there, which means they often leave during the credits.
“For some reason,” said Weber, “they don’t see our movie and think, ‘This is like “Iron Man,” so I’ve got to see the tag!’ People are walking out, but we have a post-credits sequence that’s up there with the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ one with Howard the Duck.”
Wiseau, by the way, also negotiated hair and makeup approval for his scene. His appearance is odd, even by his standards.
Every Marvel Post-Credits Scene Leading Up to 'Thor: Ragnarok' (Videos)
"Iron Man" -- Tony Stark meets Nick Fury for the first time.
"Iron Man 2" -- Agent Coulson finds Thor's hammer.
"The Incredible Hulk" -- General Ross meets Nick Fury, who tells him they're looking to put together a team of superheroes.
"Captain America: The First Avenger" -- A twofer, with a brief scene of Cap learning to cope with life in the present day, followed by a short trailer for "The Avengers."
"Thor" -- In a lead-in to "The Avengers," Nick Fury and Dr. Selvig discuss the Tesseract -- and we see that Loki already has some influence on Selvig.
"The Avengers" -- We get a brief look at Thanos, the big bad villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who is revealed to have orchestrated the film's events.
"The Avengers" -- The "Shawarma scene." 'Nuff said.
"Iron Man 3" -- We finally discover who Tony Stark was narrating the movie to... and it's Bruce Banner aka the Incredible Hulk, who had been sleeping through the whole story.
"Thor: The Dark World" -- The first of two post-credits scenes for this movie teases "Guardians of the Galaxy," paying a visit to The Collector.
"Thor: The Dark World" -- In the second, more fun scene, we see Thor come down to Earth to make out with Jane, before cutting to a shot of a lizard monster running around a parking lot.
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" -- This mid-credits scene introduces us to the evil Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, who posses Loki's staff, as well as the Maximoff Twins, who will play a big role in "Age of Ultron" and beyond.
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" -- The Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes visits the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" -- The Collector sits in the ruins of his, ah, collection, and we see Howard the Duck hanging out having a drink.
"Avengers: Age of Ultron" -- We get a look at the Infinity Gauntlet, which Thanos hopes to use, with all the Infinity Gems, to rule to universe.
"Ant-Man" -- In this mid-credits scene, we see Hank Pym showing off the Wasp suit to his daughter Janet, who will take on that role in the next "Ant-Man" movie.
"Ant-Man" -- In addition to the mid-credits Wasp scene, "Ant-Man" also had this post-credits scene in which Captain America and Falcon discuss what to do with Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
"Captain America: Civil War" -- The mid-credits scene deals with some of the fallout from Cap and Bucky's fight with Iron Man in Siberia. The two best friends have traveled to Wakanda, where Bucky is having himself re-frozen, under the care of Black Panther, as
Wakandan scientists work to find a cure for Bucky's indoctrination.
"Captain America: Civil War" -- After the credits the tone got a bit lighter, as we see Peter Parker back at home in Queens nursing a black eye, which he tells Aunt May came courtesy of "Steve from Brooklyn." Then, when he's alone in his room, he tests out a new piece of tech given to him by Tony Stark.
"Doctor Strange" -- In the mid-credits scene Doctor Strange has a nice chat with Thor about how...problematic it is that Loki is running around the various realms, and offers to help them on their mission to find their father, Odin. Seemingly this is teases Doctor Strange's involvement this "Thor: Ragnarok," out in November 2017.
"Doctor Strange" -- At the end of the credits, we see Mordo as he begins his turn to evil. No longer a faithful servant of the Sorcerer Supreme, ole Mordo is taking on a new life quest: taking down anyone who uses the power of sorcery.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" -- This one has a whopping five extra scenes, most of them just for the lulz, so we'll just lump these together into one slide. The big one here is the third scene, where we see Ayesha of the Sovereign is using a birthing pod to create Adam Warlock, who will no doubt be an important figure in future MCU movies.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" -- In the mid-credits scene we meet a character who will no doubt be a villain in a future "Spider-Man" movie: Mac Gorgan, aka the Scorpion, who runs into the Vulture in prison and describes all sorts of terrible things he wants to do to Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" -- The scene after the credits brings us one more Captain America educational video, this one about the virtues of being patient even when waiting patiently doesn't end up being rewarded with anything meaningful. A clear gag about post-credits scenes.
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The post-credits stinger is a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s look back at the treats we’ve been given for sitting through the credits over the years
"Iron Man" -- Tony Stark meets Nick Fury for the first time.