[
A good movie needs a good final shot to wrap up the story and sendoff the audience with a smile, tears, or whatever emotion the team wants the viewers to leave with. If there’s a company that knows how to finish off their movies with a good shot, it’s none other than the likes of Marvel Comics and the many companies that help/have helped bring their most iconic characters to life.
Whether the X-Men are getting a sendoff, Spider-Man is having a final swing, or the villain of the movie is finally getting what they desired, these Marvel movies have some of the best shots in the company’s long catalog. There’s an art to crafting a decent ending to a movie, and a huge part of said art is the shot the filmmakers decide to end the story on.
10
‘X-Men’ (2000)
When it came to introducing the X-Men to the world in live-action for the very first time, it was well-agreed that director Bryan Singer and the rest of the team at 20th Century Fox needed to leave theater-goers with a good taste in their mouths at the end of the story. One of the cornerstone relationships in the X-Men franchise is the one between Charles Xavier (Sir Patrick Stewart) and Erik Lehnsherr (Sir Ian McKellen), also known as Magneto.
The first X-Men film decides to end the film on these two, with them playing chess together in Magneto’s prison cell. The final shot reveals the true expanse of the kind of prison the villain is being kept in, as Xavier is wheeled away through an all-plastic hallway. Unlike other superhero movies at the time, the big baddie of this movie wasn’t killed and was most definitely coming back, which this final frame represents perfectly.
9
‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ (2012)
If it isn’t obvious already—soon it will be—Spider-Man movies have some of the best endings in Marvel movie history. Most of the time, audiences are treated to what fans have dubbed a “final swing” sequence, and it allows each film to end on a thrilling, heroic, and impactful note. One of the best final shots in a Spidey film comes at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man‘s final swing sequence.
Like most other final swings, the one found in The Amazing Spider-Man is a full “oner” with the shot never cutting from the beginning of the swing to the very end. That alone makes it one of the best Marvel final shots, because audiences get to see not only a final swing, but an inventive one in comparison to those that came before (with Spidey (Andrew Garfield) pulling off far more parkour than any other). The final frame, though—holding on the Wall-Crawler’s badass pose, thwipping towards the camera in front of the moon—is the real money-maker here and is one of the most recognizable Spider-Man frames of all time.
8
‘Logan’ (2017)
Logan is a movie that is commonly considered one of the greatest comic book movies ever made. Many could argue that it’s because the likes of the Neo-Western genre or R-rated action, but Logan‘s true charm comes from its emotional storytelling and character arcs. Nothing helps emphasize this better than the final shot of the film.
The most notable event in Logan is, well, Logan (Hugh Jackman), dying. He sacrifices himself to save Laura (Dafne Keen) and the rest of the children connected to her, and that leaves the final shot to be Laura walking away from the grave of the fallen hero. It’s small, simple, and intimate, which makes it the perfect way to end a story like this.
7
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
The world couldn’t seem to get enough of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse franchise after the first film released in 2018. That first movie changed the animation industry as a whole, inspiring studios to be more creative and take more risks with their style. So, everyone was waiting with mutual excitement and nervousness for the sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to release, hoping it would be as good, if not better.
The second film ended up being phenomenal, and, actually, quite different on the surface, which leads to the difference between the ending of this entry and the first time. This story ends with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and her own team of Spider-People, having broken off from Spider-Man 2099’s (Oscar Isaac) team, in hopes of saving Miles. This ended the movie with much more of a Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back kind of vibe, with a great cliffhanger for the next film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
6
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ (2017)
The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has always been one of the most popular in superhero cinematic history. Despite it being considered the weakest in the trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 most certainly has the best final shot, as simple as it may be—featuring Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) looking at Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) funeral with teary eyes. What makes this series so popular is not just the fact that it’s an amazing space opera, but because they have some of the deepest emotions within their plots, emphasized by this final shot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. This franchise has always been about the strength of sharing pain, and it continues in the sequel when Yondu and Rocket end up spending their plots together.
The blue-skinned Ravager serves as a potential, darker future for Rocket. However, despite being a jerk, Yondu’s friends still came through for him, something that Rocket didn’t know was possible for someone who was so “disliked,” like himself. It’s heartbreaking to hear him say, “He didn’t chase ’em away” … “even though he yelled at ’em… and was always mean… and stole batteries he didn’t need.” With the guy he had the most conflict with over the over, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), saying, “Well, of course not.” Following this interaction with the simple shot of Rocket enjoying the funeral with tears in his eyes was about as perfect of an ending as audiences could have gotten.
5
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)
Tom Holland‘s own Spider-Man trilogy is one that has had quite an impact on superhero cinema with not only how popular it’s become (being some of the most profitable Marvel movies of the modern age), but the risks it’s taken with the Wall-Crawler. The film that’s most popular and takes the biggest risks, however, is none other than Spider-Man: No Way Home—a movie which is so abundantly different than what’s come before, while still ending the film on what is arguably the most Spider-Man-like scene of all his movies.
After sacrificing his entire identity and relationships with those he loves to keep them safe and protect the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man gets a final swing that is, again, a one shot, and set to an impeccable score. These things combined, however, bring the impact of this scene to the forefront, which puts Peter Parker into the most comic-accurate place in life he’s ever been (broke and alone). It’s bittersweet and, as he swings off into the night, it makes people feel a sense of heroism and sadness combined. A perfect ending to Spider-Man: No Way Home.
4
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ (2018)
As stated, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an incredible movie, and the final shot differs a lot from its eventual sequel, being focused more on Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) for the first go-around. With the final scene of the movie being Miles’ own narration (that every other Spider-Person got throughout the film), the final shot wraps up the young hero’s arc very well.
As the newborn Spider-Man leaps from the top of a crane, he strikes a pose, and it match cuts to him landing in his bed, feeling content for pretty much the first time in the entire film. Getting to see him finally happy now that he’s come into his own is so satisfying, as the directors do a great job of getting viewers to root for the kid.
3
‘Iron Man’ (2008)
The end of Iron Man is what helped kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe as people know it. The final shot switched up the stereotypes of cinematic superheroes at the time, with one of the most iconic lines in superhero cinema, period. When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) decides to hold a press conference to explain what the final battle of the film was, he makes the impulsive decision to tell the world that: “I am Iron Man.”
Released in a time in which superheroes pretty much always had secret identities and struggled with them, Tony revealing who he is to the world changed up everything. This ending not only kicked off the MCU, but showed the viewers that Marvel Studios was ready to do their own thing with their new universe.
2
‘Spider-Man 2’ (2004)
While the final swing of Spider-Man 2, by Sam Raimi, is amazing, it’s the shot that comes after that serves as the finale of the movie and actually tops it off in a great way. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has gotten what he always wanted (Mary Jane Watson’s (Kirsten Dunst) love) and is literally swinging off into the sunset when the shot surprisingly cuts, ending the film on the face of Mary Jane, instead.
While, initially, it may not seem like an exciting final shot, it’s actually hugely meaningful. While the two have come together, it brings back around one of the core messages of Spider-Man 2: Being a hero is not easy, and someone will always suffer for it. So, as the love of her life swings off into the distance, the audiences get to see this realization on her face. It’s not one of regret, but one in which she is clearly accepting that while she has what she wants, the road ahead is not going to be easy. That’s about as Spider-Man as it gets.
1
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)
While explaining his goals within the film, Thanos (Josh Brolin) claims that once he accomplishes them, he’s going to “watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.” When it comes around to the end of the movie’s conflict, with Thanos surprisingly coming out on top and beating The Avengers—wiping out half of all life in the universe—audiences get to see exactly that.
Rather than ending the movie on any of the heroes, it ends on the film’s true protagonist, Thanos, as he (as predicted) watches the sun rise on a “grateful” universe. This emphasizes that the Mad Titan was, in fact, the main character of the movie, despite being the villain. Not to mention, this allows Avengers: Infinity War—despite technically being part one of a two-part story—to also feel like a single story that could technically end right there and have a full arc.
Avengers: Infinity War
- Release Date
-
April 27, 2018
- Runtime
-
149 minutes
-
Robert Downey Jr.
Tony Stark / Iron Man
-
Chris Evans
Steve Rogers / Captain America
https://static0.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/avengers-infinity-war-2.jpeg?w=1600&h=900&fit=crop
https://collider.com/marvel-movies-best-final-shots-ranked/
Eddie Possehl
Almontather Rassoul
