10 Times Movies Tried Way Too Hard to Set Up a Sequel

Top 10 Most Desperate Sequel Bait Scenes in Movies

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the movie scenes blatantly made to set up a sequel. To be clear, we won’t be including any movies that did get a sequel - since the bait would’ve worked.

#10: A New Villain“The King’s Man” (2021)

This prequel entry in the “Kingsman” series is an entertaining enough historical action flick, blending fictional spy thrills with the real events surrounding WWI and the lead up to it. The fledgling Kingsman team appears to defeat the villainous Flock organization, but one member continues their mission in a mid-credits scene. In it, he lays out his plans for Vladimir Lenin and introduces him to his new right-wing compatriot, Adolf Hitler. Dropping Hitler in a credits scene like he’s Thanos is a supremely confident bit of sequel bait. However, “The King’s Man” bombed at the box office, making a follow-up to the prequel seem as unlikely as Lenin and Hitler working together in any capacity.

#9: Suit Up“The Predator” (2018)

While “The Predator”’s modest box office and numerous script issues are large hurdles on their own, the biggest obstacle to it getting a sequel is that the franchise has moved in a new direction, with Dan Trachtenberg at the helm instead of Shane Black. Clearly, Black thought the film would be successful though, since it ends with the human characters gaining access to a high tech suit with which to fight against the Predators. Trachtenberg could still follow-up Black’s promise here, but we somehow doubt that “Iron Predator” is on his to-do list.

#8: Introducing Azula“The Last Airbender” (2010)

Condensing an entire season of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon “Avatar: The Last Airbender” into 1 movie seems like a recipe for disaster - and it is. But when you add a divisive director like M. Night Shyamalan, poor 3D effects, wooden acting, and laughably bad action scenes, and you’ve got an absolute catastrophe of filmmaking. Nevertheless, the studio planned to do a trilogy of films, each based on one of “Avatar”’s 3 seasons. So of course, the ending has to set up those doomed, non-existent sequels by introducing the Gaang’s next antagonist, Zuko’s sister Azula - for all the good it did.

#7: Taking the Fight to Them“Independence Day: Resurgence” (2016)

This movie may have been the sequel to a smash-hit blockbuster, but it was more of a straight-up bust. “Independence Day: Resurgence” went bigger, with bigger alien ships and more effects, as humanity began using alien tech against their attackers, yet everything felt like it couldn’t measure up to its predecessor, from its heart, to its humor, to its action. In the final moments of the film, Dr. Okun reveals that the friendly alien sphere has invited humans to join a united front against the alien harvesters. Except, the movie bombed with everybody, so we don’t expect to see them take the fight anywhere, much less to the aliens.

#6: Team Name“Fantastic Four” (2015)

Turning Marvel’s first family into moody teens with no chemistry and putting them into a dull, meandering movie was a brilliant idea. No, wait, the opposite. The opposite of that. “FANT4STIC” satisfied basically nobody, from the studio that chopped it to bits, to the director, to audiences, to critics - everybody hated this movie. This cinematic slogfest concludes with the would-be teammates standing against a railing and trying to come up with different ideas for team names. Reed has an apparently winning idea, but the movie ends before he can share it. There’s probably some kind of irony to be found there, but, honestly, who cares?

#5: Ape-braham Lincoln“Planet of the Apes” (2001)

Despite being arguably a low point in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, this 2001 reboot has some decent action, great makeup and effects, and an excellent cast. It’s basically high quality shlock, but sometimes that’s all you need. However, the baffling ending twist may have helped push the studio into rebooting it again. Astronaut Leo Davidson escapes the world of apes and returns to the same storm that brought him there. He crashlands in Washington, D.C., only to find that the Lincoln memorial now depicts the villainous general Thade. Yeah, okay, we get that it was Earth all along again, just like the original movie, but why would the apes create monuments that look just like real-world D.C.?

#4: “Let the Games Begin”“Dracula Untold” (2014)

Speaking of shlock, “Dracula Untold” takes this classic horror character and rewrites his origin story to make him more sympathetic, and basically another action hero. The film was one of many aborted attempts by Universal to jumpstart their own shared cinematic universe. However, the fact that it never managed to do so only makes the conclusion seem even more desperate. We see Vlad in the modern day meeting the famous Mina Harker, as the vampire who turned him looks on, having survived too. While the elder bloodsucker may deliver a cryptic remark on “the games beginning,” this ended up being more like “game over.”

#3: Hatching Plans“Godzilla” (1998)

Bringing a foreign IP to America is always a risky business, particularly when it’s as well-established as “Godzilla.” And that risk did not pay off for this movie. A pale imitation of the Japanese original, “Godzilla” felt like a cash grab in the wake of “Jurassic Park”’s success. While commercially successful, it still wasn’t the big hit of the year. The obvious set-up of yet another baby Godzilla hatching didn’t amount to much…well, except a surprisingly decent animated series. But that doesn’t make this bait smell any less fishy.

#2: You Won’t Believe It“Super Mario Bros.” (1993)

There are many unbelievable things about this video game adaptation. But, between the nightmarish production, awful box office performance, and critical lambasting, the most shocking thing of all is that its creators thought it would get a sequel. And yet, after the Mario brothers save Dinohattan and everything appears well at home in New York, Princess Daisy arrives with one of the most clickbait-y sequel teases of all time. She’s locked and loaded, and tells Mario and Luigi, “they won’t believe it.” “Won’t believe what?” we all asked as kids. Now that we’re adults though and have seen dozens of social media articles pull the same trick - we’re over it.

#1: Sinister Mix…Up“Morbius” (2022)

Sony’s entire Spider-Manless “Spider-Man” franchise is full of bad sequel bait conclusions. But as bad as stuff like “Madame Web” and “Kraven the Hunter” are, they still pale before the king of cringe, “Morbius.” The laughably terrible film concludes with Adrian Toomes, the Vulture from the MCU, finding himself transported to Morbius’s reality. After getting out of jail, since he’s not from this world, Toomes has some strange priorities. After rebuilding his Vulture suit, he decides to pay Dr. Michael Morbius a visit in the middle of nowhere to discuss a team-up. Stop trying to make the Sinister Six happen, Sony! It’s never gonna’ happen! Well, not without Spider-Man, at least.

Is there a terrible sequel set-up you’d like to have seen on our list? Don’t leave us hanging - tell us your picks in the comments!