Does Cocaine Bear have a post-credits scene? Drugged-up ending explained

Cocaine Bear is a crazy new comedy about a drugged-up black bear embarking on a violent killing spree – but does the film have any post-credits scenes? Read on to find out…

Very loosely based on a true story, Cocaine Bear pits police, a park ranger, kids, a gang of thieves, an animal rights activist, and a criminal kingpin against a drugged-up black bear.

Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the film stars Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, and in one of his last film roles, Ray Liotta.

You can read our review here, and details of whether the bear dies here, but what happens at the end of the movie? And does the film have any post-credit scenes? We have the answers, some of which come from the film’s writer Jimmy Warden. So BEWARE OF SPOILERS AHEAD…

Does Cocaine Bear have a post-credits scene?

Yes. In fact, Cocaine Bear has two post-credit scenes. At the end of the movie, the black bear in question kills the aforementioned kingpin Syd (Ray Liotta) – who is played with malevolent glee by Ray Liotta.

Some characters make it to the end of the movie. But many more die, which precipitates the film’s pair of post-credit scenes.

The first involve Stache (Aaron Holliday), the dopey, lovable thief who survives the film even if the rest of his gang doesn’t. The second revolves around Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), with whom Stache has had something of a bromance.

What happens in the post-credits scenes?

The first post-credit scene finds Stache hitchhiking to New York with a stolen bag of cocaine. A truck stops for him, with sheep on the back. He dumps his bag with said sheep, then remembering what happened with a certain bear, he retrieves it, gets in the front, and journeys on for another adventure.

We spoke to screenwriter Jimmy Warden about the sting, and he said: “The end credit scene with Stache – [director] Liz [Banks] put that in – that wasn’t in the original script. But we loved the idea that he just gets away. And also loved the idea that he throws the bag in the back of a truck full of animals, then he thinks twice about it. It does this thing where it extends the story without it feeling like we’re setting up a sequel and this is a money grab. It’s just kind of like a nice way to end the movie.”

The second end-credit scene is about Eddie, whose father Syd died during the climax. Another character – Detective Bob – also dies, leaving behind his Maltese dog Rosette. Eddie ends up with Rosette – two lost souls in need of each other. But not before Rosette has eaten his friend Daveed’s finger, which was blown off earlier in the movie.

As Warden explains: “We also thought that ending it with the whole emotional core of the movie… the Eddie storyline… giving him this dog that he found on his way. But doing what we constantly do in this movie. Either you hit emotion and you undercut it with comedy, or you hit the comedy of the dog eating Daveed’s fingers.

“But we do the same thing over and over again in the movie, and that’s what Liz is so good at. You take gore and you undercut it with comedy. Or you take emotion and you undercut it with gore. So you’re never quite sure and everything feels surprising and great in that way.”

Cocaine Bear is in cinemas now, and more of our coverage can be read below…

Cocaine Bear Review | The True Story | Jurassic Park’s influence | Ray Liotta tribute | Cocaine Bear video game | Post-Credit scenes explained | Cocaine Bear 2 | Does the bear die? | Cocaine Dinosaur plans