“Heads of State” ending explained: Who's the White House insider?

MelinaEntertainment2025-07-046310

Key Points

Heads of State stars John Cena and Idris Elba as feuding politicians forced to work together amid an international conspiracy.

Its action-packed ending (and post-credits scene) leaves the door open for a sequel.

The cartoonish action-comedy is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

If Wolfgang Peterson's Air Force One was a buddy comedy, it'd look something like Heads of State.

Directed by Ilya Naishuller (Nobody), the Prime Video action-comedy stars John Cena and Idris Elba as U.S. President Will Derringer and U.K. Prime Minister Sam Clarke. The pair dislikes each other. Clarke is judgmental about Derringer's past as a Schwarzenegger-like action star, and Derringer is nursing resentment over Clarke sharing a plate of fish and chips with his political opponent, which he views as an endorsement.

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After a joint press conference announcing a new clean energy initiative, they foes are forced to work through their differences as an international conspiracy has them fleeing terrorists in Poland, Croatia, and Italy.

The hyper-caffeinated flick is a good time, pairing quippy hijinks with bozo action, impressive stunts, and a shocking amount of bazookas. There are worse films to watch as fireworks are exploding outside your window.

And if all those fireworks distracted you from the political intrigue, we've got you covered. Below, we've unpacked the Heads of State's ending, including its surplus of twists and sequel potential.

What is Heads of State about?

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Priyanka Chopra plays senior MI6 agent Noel Bisset in 'Heads of State'

Heads of State begins during La Tomatina, the long-running annual festival in Buñol, Spain, where attendees chuck tomatoes at each other in the streets. Amid the chaos, MI6 agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and her team are ambushed by Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine), a Russian arms dealer with henchmen who have names like "Olga the Killer" (Katrina Durden) and "the Chef" (Wade Briggs). Noel appears to die alongside her team in the tomato-splattered streets.

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Later, it's Gradov who's behind the terrorist attack on Air Force One that forces Clarke and Derringer to parachute out of the plane into Belarus. They make their way to a Warsaw safe house, where CIA Agent Marty Comer (Jack Quaid) informs them that NATO is on the brink of collapse after documents were leaked revealing industrial espionage and economic sabotage between the allied countries.

Political operatives call it "the most damaging leak of state secrets in history," adding that if NATO fails, it could "destabilize" Europe and beyond, leading to "war on a global scale."

Clarke and Derringer eventually meet up with Noel, who survived thanks to a bulletproof vest. The trio soon discovers how the violence and political carnage are linked to Gradov — and that he has an insider in the upper echelons of the White House.

What's Gradov's deal?

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Paddy Considine plays the big bad Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov in 'Heads of State'

While Gradov is happy to usher in the collapse of the allied powers, he's also out for revenge.

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Remember that clean energy technology Clarke and Derringer announced? Gradov's son, said to be a "brilliant" scientist, invented it. But he needed enriched plutonium to manifest it, and it was his dad who procured it for him.

ECHELON, the global surveillance program, flagged the sale. Thinking it was for the creation of a nuclear weapon, NATO sanctioned a missile strike that killed Gradov's son. They went on to take the schematics for the technology and pass it off as their own.

"We took his son's life and then his legacy," says Derringer.

"Gradov's son didn't die because of us," retorts Noel. "He died because he's the son of the devil."

Who was Gradov's insider?

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Vice President Elizabeth Kirk, played by Carla Gugino, turns out to be Gradov's insider

Derringer and Clarke have to sift through a few decoys — including the president's own chief of staff, Simone Bradshaw (Sarah Niles) — before realizing Gradov's insider was the vice president, Elizabeth Kirk (Carla Gugino).

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"Of course it's the vice president," says Derringer. "It's always the vice president." (Clearly, he's seen Angel Has Fallen.)

As hinted at earlier in the film, Kirk had previously campaigned on "America first" policies that would seek to disband NATO. However, she claims that she's aligned with Derringer and works to unite world leaders who are considering leaving the alliance.

But it was all a ruse. Thinking Derringer and Clarke are dead, she joins the rest of the world leaders at a gathering in Trieste, Italy, in leaving NATO.

She's stopped, however, when Derringer and Clarke burst in at the zero hour, giving impassioned speeches about the importance of the alliance.

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"We need NATO. We need partnerships," declares Clarke. "We need to treat each other with respect, embrace each other's differences, and lean into our commonalities."

Derringer adds, "To send a message to future generations that we were here, that we did the right thing. And that starts by taking the fight to the very real enemies we face."

Kirk counters, saying that America should think of Americans first. "We grow food. We pump oil. We manufacture," she says. "Meanwhile, we send people to die in their wars. This is not a partnership. We give, they take. But not anymore. The plane is going down. We put the oxygen masks on ourselves first."

She lands one final blow on Derringer, relishing in her deception and mocking him for his Hollywood past. "That's what kills you, isn't it? It's not that I'm the better politician, it's that I'm the better actor."

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And that's when a bullet to the head takes her out.

It was Gradov who fired the shot. Knowing she considered him a "loose end," he's gone rogue.

Is Gradov defeated?

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Idris Elba and John Cena in 'Heads of State'

After a harrowing battle that spills out onto a veranda overlooking Trieste, Gradov, wielding a spear gun, leaps onto a waiting helicopter to make his escape.

Clarke and Derringer, having become friends and allies throughout the film, work together to take him out. Clarke references the climax of one of Derringer's films, Water Cobra 2, and the pair split up, running in opposite directions.

Clarke takes a spear to the shoulder, allowing Derringer to chuck a Cupid statue into the helicopter's rotor, causing a malfunction that sends the chopper (and Gradov) plummeting to the ground and bursting into flames.

How does Heads of State end?

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Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra in 'Heads of State'

The film's closing scene is set two months after the action, with news reports stating that NATO is working to rebuild trust among the allied nations.

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Clarke and Derringer are now pals, gathering for an amicable chat in a London pub. Clarke even buys him a plate of fish and chips, a symbol of their new friendship. Clarke's also celebrating his approval ratings, which were previously in the toilet, being on the rise.

Related: The 20 best comedies on Amazon Prime Video

Clarke, meanwhile, is texting with Noel, with whom he shares an unconsummated attraction. But she's on covert missions in secret locations, so a relationship is unlikely. Still, he holds out hope that one day they'll have a chance.

Is there a Heads of State post-credits scene?

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John Cena, Jack Quaid, and Idris Elba in 'Heads of State'

There sure is. The Heads of State post-credits scene takes us to a beachside bar, where Quaid's Marty, whom we were led to believe died from a headshot in an earlier firefight, is shown to be alive.

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Speaking with a gaggle of disinterested ladies, he says he was saved by a metal plate in his head — installed after a "rotisserie grill debacle" — that stopped the bullet. He brags about staying close with Clarke and Derringer, saying that there's been "light chit-chat about a cabinet appointment."

The women at the bar clearly think he's full of crap, but someone else buys in. "I believe you, Agent Comer," says Noel, who appears by his side.

That's all there is, but it certainly leaves the door open for a sequel.