Cliffhangers are a great way to keep audiences interested in what happens next, but they
only work if something, you know — actually comes next.
All too often, shows and movies leave audiences hanging, then never follow up.
Here are five cliffhangers we'll never see resolved.
Amazing Spider-Man 2
The last thing we saw in Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the introduction of Rhino, him terrorizing
New York City, Spidey leaping into battle to fight him...and then the screen cuts to
black.
Originally, of course, the plan was for the next two Amazing Spider-Man movies to continue
the story.
In fact, according to Deadline, the plan was for Sony to build an entire cinematic universe
around Andrew Garfield's Web Head — there would have been Spidey films, Sinister Six
films, and Venom films.
Unfortunately, Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed and Sony sought out a deal with Marvel to
take Spidey in a new direction.
This deal placed the hero smack-dab in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sent him back to
high school, and canceled out any need for Garfield's Amazing-verse.
Some of the spinoffs, such as Venom, are still happening, but they'll have nothing to do
with Marvel's Spider-Man.
What happened to Sony's Spidey after his big fight with Rhino will forever remain a mystery.
The Thing
John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing offered up one of the most ambiguous endings of all
time.
After an alien monster turns everyone else into an extension of itself, we're left with
two people stuck in a snowstorm: Kurt Russell's MacReady and Keith David's Childs.
"Why don't we just wait here for a little while, see what happens."
Good plan, MacReady… except now we've been waiting almost 40 years, and we still haven't
seen what happens.
We never find out if one of them is the Thing, or if they simply turn into popsicles before
finding out for sure.
There was once going to be an actual answer in the form of a sequel.
According to Coming Attractions, in 2005 the Sci-Fi Channel announced plans for a mini-series
titled Return Of The Thing.
The big reveal would've been that MacReady and Childs froze, with neither revealing themselves
as the Thing.
That may or may not have been the plot they would've filmed, but we'll never know because
Sci-Fi shelved the series before starting.
For all we know, Childs and MacReady are still staring each other down to this day.
Super Mario Bros.
You think you're optimistic?
You've got nothing on the makers of the Super Mario Bros. movie.
Despite clearly making a terrible film, they actually ended on a cliffhanger.
Daisy returns to the brothers, gun in hand, saying she needs their help again.
Obviously, a sequel never came around, and since then, we've had to fill the void with
awesome Mario video games.
So really, it hasn't been that bad.
But if you really want to know what might have happened next, you need turn to fan fiction.
In 2013, two fans wrote an unofficial sequel comic called Super Mario Bros. 2.
Unfortunately, the comic also ended on a cliffhanger, so there's still no resolution to the Mario
cinematic universe.
Maybe someday.
"Well, you don't know, it could happen."
"Haha, how?!
How could it possibly happen!"
"Anything's possible Mario, you just gotta believe!
Kyle XY
In the middle of the third season, ABC Family announced their sci-fi series Kyle XY wouldn't
be renewed.
It couldn't have come at a worse time.
Kyle was just learning who he was, why he had no memories, and why he had no belly-button.
The big season-ending cliffhanger — the realization that Cassidy was Kyle's real father
— was the last anyone would ever see of this show.
If you want a general idea of what might have happened, the Season 3 DVD has a short featurette
in which writers and producers talk about what they had planned for Season 4.
It's not the same as actually watching a story unfold, but it's better than nothing.
Mork & Mindy
After four seasons, Mork & Mindy ended in perhaps the most confusing way possible.
The season was set to end on an epic cliffhanger, where Mork and Mindy escape a renegade alien
and find themselves traveling through time.
They wind up in the prehistoric era, with seemingly no hope of returning.
Then, ABC canceled the show.
Adding to the confusion, the show didn't technically end on the cliffhanger, but instead with a
random "on Earth" episode where Mork tries to earn a promotion from his Supreme Leader.
The audience is left to assume they made it back to modern times and solved the villain
problem without telling anyone.
"*Yelling* Then destruction.
Ah, you can see it right now, blood, death, everything.
Ahh, don't tickle me, don't tickle me!
That's what happened."
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