Like so many other movies, “The Fall Guy” has a post-credits scene. However, it approaches the concept in a slightly different way than audiences might expect. After a flurry of behind-the-scenes footage during the credits lulls the viewer into believing that the movie might be over, a title card appears, stating, “Previously on ‘The Fall Guy’.” The screen then shows producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) and movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johson) exiting their crashed helicopter … only for Gail to be arrested and Tom to flee and accidentally blow himself up due to an explosives mishap. Fortunately, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) manages to wrap up “Metalstorm” without her star. It’s a big post-credits scene, made even bigger by three major cameos: Lee Majors, Heather Thomas, and Jason Momoa.
Most people will immediately spot the most obvious one of the trio since Momoa is name-dropped even before the actor agrees to take over as “Metalstorm’s” lead. But fans of the original “The Fall Guy” TV series will want to pay attention to the police officers who arrive to arrest Gail and Tom, because Majors and Thomas play two of them. Of course, the reason they appear here is that they’re the stars of the 1980s show.
In all fairness, Majors’ cameo might not surprise everyone. After all, he already announced his involvement with the movie in a February 2023 interview with the Mirror. “I had a phone call from David Leitch who directed Deadpool and John Wick,” he said. “I knew he was doing ‘The Fall Guy’ movie in Australia with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt but I was surprised by his call. He asked if I would appear in the movie and so I had to say yes.”
The Fall Guy pays homage to both its roots and subject matter
As nice as it is for the movie to pay homage to the 1981 “The Fall Guy” TV show, Lee Majors and Heather Thomas’ appearance is just one of the ways the film recognizes the people it’s indebted to. The movie focuses heavily on fictional stuntpeople like Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) and Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), but before the post-credits scene and its cameos hit the screen, the end credits sequence isn’t afraid to get extremely real. Throughout the credits, the movie rolls out an amazing montage of the actual professionals who worked on and performed “The Fall Guy’s” challenging and impressive stunts.
The 2024 Oscars stuntperson tribute may have been nonsense, but “The Fall Guy” is a crowd-pleasing love letter the profession has deserved for quite a while. Considering director David Leitch’s own history as a stuntman, this isn’t exactly surprising. But it’s still nice to see a movie wear its heart on its sleeve — especially in a way that gives the viewers amazing action sequences and plenty of insight into how they were filmed.
