The post credit scene after Inside Out 2 has got people on the internet talking, and it’s because of main character Riley’s “deep dark secret.”
If you haven’t seen Inside Out 2 or the post credit scene and you don’t want it spoiled, consider this your warning — spoilers follow.
The plot of Inside Out 2 follows main character Riley, who is now 13 years old. As a newly minted teenager, her emotions like Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust are being overshadowed by more complex emotions like Anxiety, Ennui, and Envy. As Riley goes through the throes of puberty, she makes it her goal to get accepted onto the girls’ hockey team.
But in addition to the new Anxiety character, something else that has Inside Out 2 viewers talking is Riley’s “deep dark secret” — the source of which is not revealed until the post-credit scene. Namely, there’s been a lot of speculation on TikTok about the possibility that Riley is secretly queer. However, there has not been any official word or confirmation from Disney about Riley’s sexuality, nor does the movie expressly state that she’s a member of the LGBTQIA+ community at any point. Reps for Disney did not respond to MovieMaker’s request for comment about Riley’s sexuality on Wednesday.
However it’s worth noting that in 2015, Pixar released a short film set in the Inside Out universe titled “Riley’s First Date” which finds her on a date with a boy — though that doesn’t rule out the possibility that she could be bisexual.
Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann told USA Today that there wasn’t even going to be a post-credit scene originally, and that audiences were going to be left to wonder what the deep dark secret was. But after some initial test screenings, the creative team realized that they should give viewers a little pay-off.
“I always loved the idea of leaving a little mystery with Deep Dark Secret and having audiences debate as to what the secret was. But the more we showed it, the more people were dying to know what it was,” Mann said.
What Happens in the Inside Out 2 Post Credit Scene?
The post-credit scene, Amy Poehler’s character Joy opens a vault where the Deep Dark Secret emotion has been hiding in a big, hooded cloak. She coaxes him out and asks him what the secret is.
“We burn hole in rug,” the emotion replies.
“Really? That’s it? I thought you were gonna say the time we peed in the pool!” says Joy.
This embarrasses Deep Dark Secret, and he runs back into the vault and slams the door shut.
“And he’s gone,” Joy says.
That’s it. No confirmation that Riley is queer — the reveal is just referring to a moment in Riley’s childhood when she accidentally burnt a hole in the family’s carpet and felt ashamed about it.
But that hasn’t stopped people from looking for hidden clues about Riley’s sexuality throughout the movie. There are countless TikToks speculating that Riley might be gay, speculating that she might have had a crush on Val, the older girl from the hockey team whom she idolizes. Vulture‘s Nate Jones wrote a whole op-ed about the movie’s obvious queer-coding, and how the post-credit hole-in-the-rug reveal can be viewed as confusing at best and at worst, a let-down.
Also Read: 13 Overused Words and Phrases That Make You Sound Less Intelligent
For now, we have no concrete answers about Riley’s sexuality, but perhaps it will be addressed in Inside Out 3 if they end up making one. Mann hinted in the USA Today interview that a third film is possible.
“There’s something about the Inside Out world where it’s met with open arms. Everybody’s like, ‘What age is she? I can’t wait to hear where she is in her life,’” Mann said, noting that she has “a whole stockpile of ideas” that didn’t make the second movie.
“They’re too good, they’re too funny, they’re too interesting for them not to be tapped into. So I have no idea where the future will go, (but) it should continue because I think it’s something that the audience really wants.”
Inside Out 2 is now playing in theaters.
Main Image: A still from Inside Out 2, Disney
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