Does Tenet Have An After-Credits Scene?

Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi Tenet is out now in cinemas, but does it give viewers a reason to stay after the credits? The high-concept time-bending new release was one of the first major movies to come to cinemas around the world after the COVID-19 pandemic closed down the industry and there’s a lot of reward in there for those who have seen it safely. The latest addition to Nolan’s genre-defying catalog of movies caused controversy as one of the last movies to move out of its initial release date and then again when it was announced that it would be heading into cinemas with lots of the world’s markets still closed or severely restricted.

Information on Tenet‘s plot was a well-guarded secret, even with the trailers already released and the final film proves exactly why that tactic was employed. The enigmatic movie follows John David Washington as The Protagonist, who is charged – alongside cohort Robert Pattinson with preventing World War III at the behest of a clandestine organization armed with just one word, “Tenet”. Something that changes the flow of time sits at the heart of the story and The Protagonist is forced to navigate a seriously action-oriented plot to get to the film’s ending. For Nolan fans, that means a challenging, rewarding, and most of all thrilling experience.

Inevitably – and particularly because of how Tenet ends – moviegoers who do decide to go and see it will want to know if the film features an after-credits scene worth sticking around for. Unfortunately, Tenet does NOT have any kind of post-credits scene or anything extra during its credits. That doesn’t mean you can’t sit through the credits at the very least as a way of learning more about those who contributed to the film’s success (and to show some respect to them).

Christopher Nolan is not known for adding codas to his movies and controversy blossomed back in 2014 when he was misquoted saying that he had vetoed a comedy post-credits stinger on Man Of Steel because “real movies wouldn’t do that.” Nolan quickly disputed the story, but his standing on post-credits remains unconfirmed. If his actions are the mark of his beliefs, then he’s clearly not a fan. With Tenet, adding something after the credits may have done a disservice to the ending, particularly in terms of how that ending frames the very idea of time.

Could there be more from this universe? It’s certainly possible. There’s more than enough potential in there to warrant a sequel or an expansion of Tenet‘s world and ideas, even if Nolan’s approach to film-making outside of the Dark Knight Trilogy makes a direct follow-up unlikely. If Tenet 2 were to exist, it would have to be on the back of incredible box office performance (which is an unknowable quantity) and Nolan would have to be deeply invested in making it. For now, it will be a matter of waiting to see the impact that Tenet has.

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Simon Gallagher
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Simon is a veteran editor who has been writing online since 2010 – long before anyone wanted to read his work. He loves Clueless. Like, a lot.

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