M Night Shyamalan blew our collective minds with the post-credits scene at the end of Split, revealing that the movie we had just watched took place in the same world as his 2000 masterpiece Unbreakable. Now that the third film in the long-promised trilogy is here, the question remains: Does Glass have a post-credits scene? And is it worth sticking around after the credits roll? Here’s what you need to know. (No spoilers, we swear).
Samuel L. Jackson in 'Glass'
Short answer: No. There is no secret ending or post-credits scene in Glass. After the movie ends it really is over and you can feel free to leave. However, it’s worth discussing exactly what that means both for the Eastrail 177 Trilogy (as the director calls it) and M. Night Shyamalan’s approach to movies in general.
The Split post-credits scene might have come as a surprise to nearly everyone who saw it, but it’s actually been in the making for over a decade. As Shyamalan revealed to Vulture in a recent interview, Split’s villain, The Horde (James McAvoy), was originally supposed to be appear in Unbreakable. The director also promised Samuel L. Jackson that the original film was part of a trilogy back when it was filmed.
Left: Bruce Willis in 'Unbreakable.' Right: James McAvoy in 'Split.'
Why does this matter? It means that with Split, M. Night Shyamalan wasn’t just building a universe for the sake of selling movie tickets. Instead, Glass is the culmination of a carefully plotted trilogy. Giving it a post-credits scene would ruin what the director planned almost two decades earlier.
Glass is supposed to be the definitive ending to a bigger story, even if the movie itself is somewhat open-ended. You have to admire the director for sticking to his original plan, especially at time where pretty much every movie studio is racing to build sprawling cinematic universes that never actually end. It’s just a shame that Glass isn’t a good movie, though maybe given another two-decades that perception will shift as well.
Glass hits theaters on January 18.
