January 16, 2012 by Vinnie Leduc
- Bridesmaids
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Fast Five
- Hall Pass
- The Muppets
- Portal 2
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Super 8
- The Thing
- Thor
The evolution of the stinger hit significant strides in 2011 as more and more often, audiences were rewarded with staying during movie credits and players were treated with more goodies for beating their video games. Hall Pass included hilarious extra bits during the beginning of the credits, during the end of them, and after the credits. On DVD and Blu-Ray, Bridesmaids‘ unrated stinger was a rare alternate version. The Muppets‘ musical stinger not only included additional plot points, but it also did so in a way that paid homage to its predecessors. Portal 2 similarly offered another GLaDOS gem and also threw in a post-credits stinger for good measure. Rise of the Planet of the Apes provided a chilling connection to previous films and an explanation that intriguingly sets up its sequel.
Super 8‘s can’t-miss stinger washed away the bad taste of its corny ending. Fast Five pushed its trademark cameos into the most shocking stinger of 2011; it hinted at the potential resurrection of a key franchise character in the next movie. The Thing‘s stinger, which perfectly bridged the prequel to John Carpenter’s cult classic, might have been one of the best uses of a mid-credits stinger of all time.
Thor‘s classic post-credits scene is currently the top user-rated stinger on the site. However, in a close vote we’re anointing Captain America: The First Avenger‘s after-credits scene and tantalizing The Avengers trailer as the best stinger of 2011. Also the most discussed stinger of the year, it got you excited for the culmination of Marvel’s superhero movies of the past decade, even if you didn’t really like The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, or the Captain America movie itself. Winner: Captain America: The First Avenger
Honorable Mentions: Dead Space 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Green Lantern, The Hangover: Part II, Horrible Bosses, L.A. Noire, Shark Night 3D, Soul Surfer, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
