Cliffhangers are one of the best ways to end an already amazing movie. More often than not, cliffhangers literally left audiences at the edges of their seats and wanting more as soon as possible. Because of this, cliffhangers are inherently frustrating. They lack resolutions, and force viewers to wait for a year at the least for answers.
The best cliffhangers are frustrating not just because they leave audiences hanging, but because what came after fell short of expectations. In more extreme circumstances, the follow-up that a cliffhanger promised never happened. These cliffhangers are great in a vacuum, but annoy and tire out viewers as part of a movie or series.
10 Half of the MCU’s Heroes Died & Thanos Won
Avengers: Infinity War
There are many good reasons why some fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) think that Avengers: Infinity War was the franchise’s peak, chief among them being the crossover epic’s brazenly dark ending. Not only did the Avengers fail to stop Thanos, but he successfully killed half of all life in the universe and the MCU’s cast as promised.
Infinity War’s cliffhangers frustrated fans by killing of many of the MCU’s most beloved characters, and offered no catharsis or hint of hope at all. It took a year before Avengers: Endgame’s synopsis or even just its title were announced. Endgame was more than worth the wait, but fans had to endure an agonizing year of relative silence.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
A shared universe of films starring iconic characters from Marvel Comics such as Iron Man, Captain America and Spider-Man.
9 Jigsaw Had Another Game Ready for Jeff
Saw III
The Saw movies were (in)famous for their cliffhangers and twist endings, and Saw III’s was arguably the series’ most daring and notorious. Saw III ended with Jeff killing John Kramer (aka Jigsaw), only for him to activate another game. Worse, Jeff’s choice resulted in the death of his wife Lynn, and his daughter becoming the new game’s “prize.”
At the time, it really seemed as if Saw III was Saw’s end. It was because of this that Saw fans both loved and hated the cliffhanger. Fans respected Saw III’s choice to kill the series’ star, but were frustrated by the new game and how detestable Jeff was. Luckily, Saw continued for more sequels, and Jeff was quickly killed off in Saw IV.
8 Machete Was Going To Kill Again in Space
Machete Kills
Machete Kills embraced grindhouse cinema’s campiest and most absurd elements in ways Machete didn’t, and was better for it. Its cliffhanger cemented this by being a trailer for the trilogy capper Machete Kills Again… in Space. Just as the title promised, the finale starred Machete fighting Luthor Voz in his space station.
Fans were excited for Machete’s space-faring epic, but have been waiting futilely for more than a decade at this point. Star Danny Trejo expressed his desire to do the sequel, and director Robert Rodriguez hinted his plans for it this year. The nonexistent movie’s trailer continues to frustrate fans, many of whom gave up and moved on.
7 Freddy Krueger & Jason Voorhees Got a Draw
Freddy Vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason settled its titular rivalry with a tie. Jason endured more injuries than even his durability could handle, and Freddy was stabbed with his own bladed hand then beheaded. However, the slasher crossover ended with a cliffhanger that showed Jason reemerging from Crystal Lake’s waters while holding Freddy’s still sentient head.
This excited fans, especially with news that a sequel was being developed. What’s more, the sequel was said to be bringing in Ash Williams from TheEvil Dead trilogy. Due to copyright problems and creative differences, the pitched sequel was ultimately scrapped. Even its adaptation as a comic couldn’t remedy fans’ frustration and sadness.
6 Liz Sherman Was Pregnant With Twins
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Guillermo del Toro’s hypothetical Hellboy III is one of the greatest missed opportunities in pop culture history. Hellboy II: The Golden Army’s cliffhanger teased that the sequel would’ve been an appropriately bizarre cross of a family drama and a dark epic. This was because Hellboy was about to become the father of Liz’s twins.
The prospect of seeing the BPRD become a literal family while confronting the twins’ place in the apocalyptic prophecy was cute and exciting. Unfortunately, The Golden Army underperformed, and killed any plans for Hellboy III. Today, the cliffhanger frustrates and saddens fans because it reminds them of a sequel that never came to be.
5 The Dinosaurs Entered Modern Society
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
The Jurassic World movies were incredibly divisive, but it’s hard to deny that the second installment, Fallen Kingdom, was the best. This was thanks to its embrace of the horror genre, and its exciting cliffhanger. Fallen Kingdom ended with the heroes choosing to let the dinosaurs live, even if this meant endangering humanity as a whole.
Besides finally seeing Jurassic Park venture beyond the parks, fans were excited to see how a sequel would wrestle with the ending’s ethical implications. But then Jurassic World: Dominion quickly resolved the dinosaurs’ entrance into the modern world, and returned to the parks. Fallen Kingdom’s abandoned cliffhanger only gets more frustrating with time.
Jurassic World
- Release Date
- June 12, 2015
- Director
- Colin Trevorrow
- Cast
- Chris Pratt , Bryce Dallas Howard , Ty Simpkins , Judy Greer , Irrfan Khan , Vincent D’Onofrio
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
4 Smaug Set His Eyes on Lake-town
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The ironic thing about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was that Smaug never actually desolated anything. Instead, Smaug’s death and destruction were saved for the succeeding The Battle of the Five Armies. This was teased by The Desolation of Smaug’s chilling cliffhanger, where Smaug flew for Lake-town, ready to burn it.
The Desolation of Smaug’s cliffhanger excited fans because it seemingly promised an entire movie about fighting the dragon, only for him to die not even 15 minutes into The Hobbit trilogy’s finale. Smaug’s flight frustrated fans not just because it was one of its forgettable movie’s only redeeming factors, but because its promises were hollow.
3 A New Generation of Jedi Was About To Rise Up
Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
The most frustrating thing about The Last Jedi was that Star Wars sheepishly backtracked on its daring promises and progressive potential. The most infuriating losses were its cliffhangers. The Last Jedi ended with Luke Skywalker’s sacrifice reignited rebellion across the galaxy, and a young stablehand used The Force to grab his broom.
These confirmed that the Resistance lived to fight another day, and that the Force was democratized. But thanks to zealous Star Wars purists’ hate and bigotry, The Rise of Skywalker retconned them. The Last Jedi’s exciting cliffhangers became “what ifs” that frustrated its actual fans so much that they quit Star Wars in disgust.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
The Star Wars saga continues as new heroes and galactic legends go on an epic adventure, unlocking mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
- Release Date
- December 15, 2017
- Director
- Rian Johnson
- Runtime
- 152 minutes
- Franchise
- Star Wars
2 Macready & Childs May or May Not Be the Thing
The Thing (1982)
The Thing became one of the most defining horror movies ever made because of its terrifying gore and legendarily ambiguous ending. After surviving the Thing’s attack and their base’s incineration, MacReady and Childs sat in the snow, with their flamethrowers aimed at each other just in case they were a Thing in disguise.
Before the cliffhanger could be resolved, The Thing slowly faded to black. Fans were so frustrated by The Thing’s lack of a concrete ending that they spent decades making intricate theories, some of which became “canon” through spin-off games and comics. Director John Carpenter knows the truth, but angrily refuses to share it.
1 Cobbs’ Totem Wouldn’t Fall
Inception
Inception shaped much of the zeitgeist of the 2010s, and gave film history one of the most iconic cliffhangers of all time. The movie blurred the lines between reality and different tiers of dreams to the point where it was impossible to tell them apart. Cobb’s totem continuing to spin just as Inception cut to black muddied things even further.
The cliffhanger’s refusal to clarify if Cobb was dreaming or not frustrated fans so much that debates about Inception’s ending rage on even today. Even the cast has their own interpretations, but director/writer Christopher Nolan preferred to keep things ambiguous. All he was willing to divulge was that, at that point, Cobb didn’t care if he was asleep or not.
