The first post-credits scene of Sinners has more depth than you may think, thanks to a crucial casting detail. Music is crucial to Ryan Coogler’s recent horror film. The blues are an influential part of Black culture, and were especially so during the Jim Crow era; the film shows how the blues transcend generations. It also speaks to how important cultural idenтιтy is to a community, and why preserving it is vital, when conforming could be easier. While Sinners has bloody vampire action, it has a unique voice that many movies are missing.
Coogler brings some of his MCU experience to Sinners by giving the film two post-credit scenes, both centered around Sammie (Miles Caton), Smoke and Stack’s (Michael B. Jordan) blues prodigy cousin. Sammie is the lone survivor of the attack on the juke joint, but continues to play the guitar, despite warnings from his father and the looming danger of Sinners’ vampires. The credits feature an elderly version of Sammie, who has become a successful blues player and continues to perform. It also includes a shocking twist, but the most meaningful detail might be the casting of Sammie’s aged self.
Sammie Is Played By Blues Music Icon Buddy Guy In Sinners’ First Credits Scene
The Older Sammie Is Played By A Blues Legend
In the first Sinners post-credit scene, Sammie is at a bar after a performance when he is visited by Stack and Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who survived the juke joint attack after becoming vampires. The couple offers Sammie the opportunity to become a vampire, allowing him to play the blues forever. However, Sammie turns them down, saying he’s lived long enough. This scene offers more context to the film, showing that Sammie would rather keep his soul pure than play his music forever. However, it’s made even more impactful by Buddy Guy’s casting.
Guy is a blues icon who has been an influential figure in the genre since the 1950s. He has played with legendary guitarists like Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and Howlin’ Wolf. In his illustrious career, Guy has won eight Grammy Awards and a lifetime achievement award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors. He has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Guy, 88, continues to play today and is an influence on many modern guitarists who keep the blues alive.
Casting Buddy Guy As An Older Sammie Is Another Way Sinners Honors The History Of Blues & Black Musicians
Sinners Shows Love For The Legacy Of Music In Black Communities
The most memorable scene from Sinners is when Sammie plays the guitar alongside different eras of music, inviting the spirits of past and future generations into the bar. The now-iconic Sinners scene beautifully shows how the blues have fed into modern genres like rock, hip-hop, and R&B, but also how ancestral music led to the development of the blues. It’s expertly directed by Coogler and includes a genius composition by Ludwig Göransson.
It survives in the face of adversity, similar to community itself.
Guy’s casting is a wonderful continuation of this scene and its themes. It shows how the blues remained relevant for decades, allowing Sammie to play it professionally, but also that music and art should never be compromised, especially by outside forces. It survives in the face of adversity, similar to community itself. Guy himself had a similar journey to Sammie (without vampires), and his inclusion pays homage to an artist who helped the blues to thrive.
What Buddy Guy Has Said About Playing Sammie In Sinners
Guy Is Optimistic About How His Role Can Further Impact The Blues
The blues is an invaluable music genre that is struggling to hold on. While its influence is still heard in music by plenty of popular artists, the genre doesn’t have the same relevance with the younger generation as it once did. In an interview with Variety, Guy says he hopes his role in Sinners and its use of blues music will keep it alive with a younger crowd:
“I’m 100% trying to support it so the next generation of white or Black kids can hear it and know more about the blues that was created way before the British type of (blues-rock) stuff come along and all the different types of music we have now. Muddy Waters and BB King, I knew ’em before they pᴀssed away, and they told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive.’
“So it just makes me feel good to see something that is letting people know a little more about it. So when they told me I had an interview with you, I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it.’ Because anything we can do to help the blues stay alive, I’m for it. I’m in for it.”
It’s saddening that many of the greatest blues artists are no longer here, but there are still modern musicians trying to bring the blues back. Some of these artists include Kaleo, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and Gary Clark Jr. It may not be as popular, but the blues still has a pᴀssionate audience that keeps it around, and Sinners is only further elevating it.
