‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’ After-Credits Scene: Is There An Extra Scene Tucked At The End? Find Out Where Spoilers For The ‘Harry Potter’ Prequels Are Hidden

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is finally hitting the theaters, and Harry Potter fans excited to get their fix of wizards and muggles will want to know if there’s an after-credits scene that would justify staying the entire two-hour and 13-minute running time.

The movie will be the first in a series of prequels to Harry Potter, and the film is coming out a full five years after the last Potter movie hit the theaters. Because there are still more movies to come after Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them arrives, there had been speculation during the production process that the movie might have an after-credits scene that could give the audience a preview of what is to come.

After all, the after-credits scene — also known as a stinger or credit cookie — has become an increasingly popular feature in films with sequels. The Marvel superhero movies have even created a formula that includes one additional scene during the credits that adds a bit of humor, and a second that takes place after all the credits have ended to introduce a new character or establish a plot line for one of the upcoming movies.

So, does Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them have an after-credits scene?

The answer is no. There is no scene either during or after the credits, but that doesn’t mean the movie is devoid of spoilers for the rest of the Harry Potter prequel series. In fact, there are plenty of hidden clues about what could happen later in the series.

[WARNING: Potential Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them spoilers ahead. If you want to avoid finding out potential plot points for this and future movies, you can skip ahead to the bold text below and pick back up again.]

As Business Insider noted, it seems a bit out of place that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them doesn’t have an after-credits scene given the number of questions left unanswered by the time the movie ends and the credits roll.

“Since ‘Fantastic Beasts’ ends leaving a lot of questions left unanswered, we thought it may make sense for an additional tag to highlight more about a favorite character or to hint at the eventual addition of Dumbledore in a sequel. Instead, it looks like J.K. Rowling and the ‘Beasts’ team are keeping all of the secrets of the wizarding world under lock and key — at least until the rest of the four movies come out.”

Some close viewers have been picking up on the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Easter eggs (a movie term for hidden spoilers) since the trailer first came out, compiling a list of all the apparent callbacks (or callforwards, in the case of this prequel) to Harry Potter. It’s unclear how these might play out in the coming movies or how it might all tie in with Harry Potter by the time the prequels end, but there’s plenty of speculation.

Movie Pilot writer Jack Carr believes Collin Ferrell’s mysterious character, Percival Graves, could end up being a pivotal role in all of the coming movies. As Carr noted, Graves is pushing for the magic community to “emerge from the shadows” and take their powerful place in society.

Emotional parallels? @FantasticBeasts has lots of them with @HarryPotterFilm! https://t.co/HozDcwhY2d pic.twitter.com/WilVV5i6h7

— MuggleNet: #1 Wizarding World Resource Since 1999 (@MuggleNet) November 17, 2016

“Doesn’t that sound like pretty much exactly like the M.O. of a certain dark wizard?” Carr wrote about Graves and his desire for magic to enter the world. “I could be wildly wrong, but I reckon J.K. Rowling has a major twist in store for us. What if Percival Graves is in fact Gellert Grindelwald? It’s easy to assume another wizard’s identity (Barty Crouch Jr. impersonated Alastor Moody for an entire school year) in order to infiltrate an organization and bring it down from within, and a dark wizard like Grindelwald would certainly know how to create Polyjuice potion.”

[Those looking to pick up reading without catching any potential spoilers can start again here.]

Though there is no after-credits scene in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, there could be a potentially massive audience waiting to see what spoilers are shown during the movie. Officially kicking off the holiday movie season, the Harry Potter prequel is expected to dominate the opening weekend box office returns, with Variety predicting a $200 million worldwide debut.

There could also be one small advantage with having no after-credits scene in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. With a running time of more than two hours, it gives moviegoers a bit of a head start for the exits.

[Featured Image by Warner Bros.]