(Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you don’t want to know spoilers for “Crazy Rich Asians.”)
“Crazy Rich Asians,” director John M. Chu’s rom-com adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel, may not seem like the sort of movie that would demand a Marvel-style post-credits scene.
But the book is the first installment in a trilogy about sweethearts Nick Young (Henry Golding) and Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and their families and hangers-on.
And there’s in fact good reason to stick around after Nick and Rachel celebrate their engagement on the glorious rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore at the very end of the movie.
The credits roll, but there’s a bonus scene still to come. (Seriously, last chance before the spoilers.)
Midway through the credits, we get a short scene of Nick’s model-perfect cousin Astrid Leong (Gemma Chan) walking up to the bar at the rooftop engagement party.
She catches the eye of billionaire Charlie Wu, played by “Glee” alum Harry Shum, Jr. They smile at each other knowingly, which may lead fans to believe this sets up a potential sequel since Charlie is a big character in the second and third books in Kwan’s trilogy.
In the books, the two were engaged to be married when they were younger but her family disapproved of Charlie. Of course, Astrid then married Michael Teo, an aspiring entrepreneur who does not remain faithful to her.
In the books, Charlie and Astrid lovers reunite at Colin and Araminata’s wedding — and she goes to stay with him after she finds out about Michael’s affair. The events don’t transpire quite that way in the movie, so it seems like the mid-credit scene is setting up Astrid’s major storyline for a potential sequel.
When asked about a potential sequel, Chu told TheWrap, “We would love to, of course — we wouldn’t put that in if we didn’t have the intention [to make a sequel]. However, we don’t get to decide — the audience does.”
According to Thrillist, producer Nina Jacobson told reporters earlier this month, “We’ll just tease [it] a little bit at the end and hope that audiences ask for more movies so we can continue to tell the story.”
“Crazy Rich Asians,” in theaters now, also stars Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Chris Pang, and Jimmy O. Yang.