Does Iron Man 3 Have an After Credits End Scene?

Warning: While this article is purely speculative, potential MAJOR spoilers follow for Iron Man 3. Do not read if you don't want to be spoiled on the film.

Tony Stark himself is gearing up to return to the big screen in just over a month in Iron Man 3. And of course, whenever a new Marvel movie hits, all eyes turn to the potential for Easter Eggs in the film. What nerd-errific references will we spot in Iron Man 3? And does the threequel feature a post credits scene that will tie it into other upcoming Marvel films such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers 2, Ant-Man, or perhaps even an unannounced Phase 3 project such as Doctor Strange or Black Panther?

Of course, at this point no one outside of the inner circle of power at Marvel has seen a cut of Iron Man 3, so we can only piece together clues and speculate about Easter Eggs and after credits scenes. That said, there are some theories floating around.

Chief among those would seem to feature the Guardians of the Galaxy in some capacity, be it Tony Stark heading out into space to meet that cosmic team of super-beings, or perhaps one (or several) of the Guardians visiting the Armored Avenger on Earth. The fact that Iron Man joined the team in the new Guardians comic certainly doesn't hurt this theory, nor does the recent leak that Stark utilizes a "deep space suit" in Iron Man 3. Plus, the Guardians are without a doubt the most obscure characters Marvel has attempted to launch on the big screen yet, so having Robert Downey, Jr. help introduce them to the world couldn't hurt.

Then there's the matter of Stephanie Szostak's character in Iron Man 3. Some have speculated that she could be playing Janet van Dyne, a founding member of the Avengers in the comics and also the love interest of Ant-Man. Who, of course, is getting his own film from Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright in 2015. If Szostak is playing van Dyne -- and there does appear to be a scene in the Iron Man 3 trailer where she is undergoing some kind of Extremis procedure that theoretically could give her superpowers -- then an Ant-Man tag scene doesn't seem at all out of line… Though that said, Marvel has been pretty cagey about revealing who her character actually is. She's also been rumored to be playing Bethany Cabe, who donned a suit of armor herself in the comics at one point, or Ellen Brandt, who in the comics was an A.I.M. operative (and that cabal of terrorist scientists is in Iron Man 3 in fact). But Brandt was also… wait for it… Man-Thing's wife! Man, if only. A modern Man-Thing movie would be amazing.

That's wishful fanboy thinking at work right there, but that's where a lot of this Easter Egg speculation leads. Like the idea that the Hulk somehow shows up in Iron Man 3's post credits scene and that's why we seem to be seeing Hulkbuster armor in the trailer for the film. This notion has been much-discussed among fans, but I wouldn't count on that one.

Perhaps most likely of all, however, is the post-credits scene -- if there even is one -- being something entirely new and different that we can't anticipate. Who knows? Maybe it won't even tie into another Marvel property. Shawarma anyone?

Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN at scottcollura and on Facebook.

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