Modern Warfare 2 Post-Credit Scene Explained

Those who have completed Modern Warfare 2's main campaign have been left with a lot to wonder about after its ending. Though the game's main story plays fast and loose with its storyline, its conclusion and post-credit scene leave a lot of potential for future Modern Warfare titles and may leave you asking, what's next for the Modern Warfare franchise?

If you're sitting with these same questions in mind, then keep reading, as below we'll be breaking down everything you need to know about the ending of Modern Warfare 2. More specifically, we'll take a look at its post-credit scene and what it means for the future of Call of Duty Modern Warfare titles. 

Modern Warfare 2 Ending Explained

Note: Major Spoilers for the story of Modern Warfare 2 ahead. 

As the game draws to a close, Laswell and Task Force 141 are in some remote dive bar when Laswell confirms Shepherd has vanished. Laswell then begins speaking about how she's begun looking into Russian involvement regarding the events that took place during the game's main story until that point.

She then passes around an image of the person she suspects to be involved in this, and to our surprise, it's Makarov, the main antagonist from Modern Warfare 2. This, in all likelihood, means that Makarov will be the next obstacle for Task Force 141 to overcome in Modern Warfare 3, after which the credits roll. 

Modern Warfare 2 Post Credit Scene Explained

We then move onto the post-credit scene, which seems to back up the existence of Makarov in future installments of Modern Warfare. It opens up with a man carefully assembling a pistol while receiving a text asking if he's "Ready?", which he confirms. 

It then zooms out to reveal three armed men moving from their seats toward the front of the plane when a final message comes through that reads, "No Russian". This text message comes from "M", who we reckon is likely Makarov himself, meaning he's not on the plane and could likely be somewhere else awaiting their arrival.

These support Makarov coming to the next Call of Duty installation as we first encounter him in a controversial mission called "No Russian" in the original Modern Warfare 2, where the player is tasked with carrying out a terrorist attack on a Russian airport. You take control of a CIA agent who is trying to infiltrate Makarov's organization in that mission, but after executing the attack, you attempt to escape, and Makarov executes you and leaves your body behind.

The mission is referred to as "No Russian" because Makarov intends to deceive the Russian government into believing that Americans were responsible for the attack by leaving an American body behind and speaking no Russian. Russia consequently declared war on the United States, thereby officially beginning World War 3.

It's clear that this is likely a set-up to retell the story from the original Modern Warfare 3, but this time with some twists and turns along the way to keep the game fresh for new and old players.

However, we might not even have to wait for a Modern Warfare 3 reboot to see Makarov. As he could play a minor role in Spec Ops and Warzone 2, both of which are expected to have some narrative elements.

Check out the excellent video from YouTuber Inkslasher below explaining the ending of MW2 in detail.

For more Call of Duty news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our MW2 Guides & Tutorials below:

Modern Warfare 2 Guides - Jack Links Skin | Unlock All Operators | Check Server Status | Get Twitch Drops | Post-Credit Scene Explained | Unlock Gold Camo | Get Burger Town Operator | MGB Nuke | Unlock Every Weapon | All Killstreaks| Safe Code Locations  

Modern Warfare 2 Fixes & Issues-Best NVIDIA GeForce Drivers | Dev Error 6036 | MW2 Missing Items | Unlimited Tactical Sprint Bug | Stuck On Installing Bug | Display Name Not Allowed Bug

Modern Warfare 2 Loadouts - Best Weapon Tier List| Best M4 Loadout| Best PDSW 528 Loadout 

Featured image courtesy of Activision.

For more Call of Duty news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our MW2 Guides & Tutorials below:

Modern Warfare 2 Guides - Jack Links Skin | Unlock All Operators | Check Server Status | Get Twitch Drops | Post-Credit Scene Explained | Unlock Gold Camo | Get Burger Town Operator | MGB Nuke | Unlock Every Weapon | All Killstreaks| Safe Code Locations | Check KD Ratio | XP Farm Trick | Chopper Gun Glitch | Weapon Tuning | Change Name Color | Hardcore Tier 1 Mode | Turn Off Crossplay | Steam Deck | Raid: Atomgrad | How To Play "Support A Team" | Unlock Orion Camo | Aim Assist Settings | 

Modern Warfare 2 Fixes & Issues- Best NVIDIA GeForce Drivers | Dev Error 6036 | MW2 Missing Items | Unlimited Tactical Sprint Bug | Stuck On Installing Bug | Display Name Not Allowed Bug | Gold Camo Not Unlocking | Voice Chat Not Working| Display FPS Counter | 

Best Modern Warfare 2 Loadouts -  Best Weapon Tier List | M4 Loadout |  PDSW 528 Loadout | TAQ-V Loadout | M4 Loadout | Fennec 45 | No Recoil M4 Loadout | SA-B 50 Loadout | Kastov-74U Loadout |