Anaconda Post-Credits Scene Teases a Legendary Return 28 Years in the Making
Anaconda slithers back into theaters with a mid-credits bridge to the 1997 original and a post-credits shocker that reveals the fate — and comeback — of a core character 28 years later.
Heads-up: the new Anaconda is playing the nostalgia card hard, and yes, you should stick around through the credits. There are multiple tags, one very familiar face, and a bit of filmmaking trivia about how it all came together at the last possible second.
What this version actually is
This Anaconda is a meta take. A group of friends, not thrilled with where their lives have landed, head to the Amazon rainforest to remake the 1997 movie. Tom Gormican directed from a script he co-wrote with Kevin Etten, and the cast is stacked: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Thandiwe Newton, Steve Zahn, and Daniela Melchior.
The credits scenes, explained
- Mid-credits: A montage runs through where everyone ended up. The big swing is a callback to the original franchise: Ice Cube is alive. In the new film’s events, he saves our main group from the giant snake and then heads off to try to rescue original stars Jennifer Lopez and Eric Stoltz. The montage keeps Stoltz’s fate open-ended, but it confirms Lopez made it out. On top of that, Lopez actually shows up in the tag: she turns up at Doug’s house, tells him she liked the scrappy, low-budget version of the movie he put together, and offers him the chance to direct another Anaconda she’s doing. Doug promptly hits the floor. (The cameo plays as part of the mid-credits package, which functions as the movie’s final beat.)
- Post-credits: One more stinger: Carlos, the snake handler Griff and Doug hired for their DIY production and who was presumed dead midway through, is very much alive.
How the Lopez cameo actually happened
Gormican told The Hollywood Reporter that landing Lopez wasn’t easy and came together late. They tried to get her during principal photography, but schedules didn’t line up. The team always wanted her in there, though, and finally pulled it off with a reshoot on November 17 — literally the last thing they filmed. Gormican says he was finishing the final sound mix when he stepped out to shoot the cameo, then dropped it into a mid-credits sequence they were building specifically to make room for it.
"Her cameo was a product of reshoots... I was finally able to shoot her cameo a month ago on November 17. It was the very last thing we did."
So, quick recap: mid-credits gives you Ice Cube’s status update and the J.Lo cameo; post-credits confirms a not-dead snake wrangler. If you’re in, you’re in for the whole credits roll.