The Surprisingly Meaningful Reason Werewolf By Night Didn't Have A Post-Credits Scene
"Werewolf by Night" is the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first TV special. Unlike the movies and the Disney+ productions (which are mostly just long-form movies, only "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" has really captured that episodic adventure magic), it's a spooky-adjacent production that runs just under an hour. In that hour, it tells the story of the Bloodstone family, a secret organization of monster hunters, and a friendly werewolf who just wants to rescue his buddy from a deadly game of hide and seek. As far as MCU properties go, it's both concise and effective, and the cast, which includes Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly, should be applauded for their work.
Another notable change in structure for "Werewolf by Night" is that the Marvel TV special does not feature an end-credit sequence. That's not necessarily a first for the MCU, but it's unusual. This was, as it turns out, intentional, and the creative team behind "Werewolf by Night" has gone on record to address the situation.
Werewolf by Night is a self contained story
In an interview with The Direct, "Werewolf by Night" executive producer Brian Gay defended the decision to forego the standard MCU end-credit scene, saying, "[That final campfire scene is] in the [same] spirit [as a normal post-credits scene]. We wanted to put, you know, a nice, I guess, button on the end of the special in a way to have it. But with this, we want it to be a contained story. And so anytime that there's, you know, a tag, it's always what's next, what's going on for these characters. [The Werewolf and Man-Thing] don't know what's happening next. They barely made it through this night alive. And so it always felt a little weird that we would return back to something when oh my gosh, you made it out. Just celebrate that moment as opposed to carry on."
Unlike the movies and the Disney+ series, "Werewolf by Night" is mostly a self-contained story. It was billed as a TV special, meaning that the contents therein aren't really supposed to connect to the larger narrative. As Gay said, the end credit scene is interstitial and would have made the project feel as though it was designed with more in mind. And, in fairness, maybe it was, but it seems as though Marvel wishes for the public to enjoy "Werewolf by Night" as it is rather than what it could potentially lead toward.