The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Every Marvel Easter Egg We Caught

Spoilers travel for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The MCU’s instrumentality connected the Fantastic Four is yet successful theaters with Fantastic Four: First Steps. And dissimilar different movies from Marvel Studios, this doesn’t instrumentality spot connected Earth-616, AKA the main MCU… Instead, it’s acceptable connected Earth-828, an alternate, retro-futuristic beingness different unconnected to the different Marvel movies. And due to the fact that of that, it’s comparatively devoid of the regular Easter eggs that are hidden everyplace successful your run-of-the-mill Marvel film.

…Or is it? There are really a just fig of references littered passim the film, mostly to villains, arsenic good arsenic a fewer inadvertent parallels to different Fantastic Four movies. And fixed however the satellite of First Steps is packed to the gills with ads, movie marquees, and different details that zip by faster than a Fantasticar, it’s hard to drawback them each with 1 viewing of the movie.

We did spot a clump of Easter eggs, though, and we’ll item them each here. But did you drawback immoderate that we missed? Then fto america cognize successful the comments truthful we tin prime them retired connected the second, third, and of course, 4th clip viewing the movie.

‘Well, Folks, We All Know Their Story’

Right aft the opening country of the movie, we’re taken to a montage playing connected The Ted Gilbert Show, hosted by Ted Gilbert (Mark Gatiss), recounting the root and exploits of the Fantastic Four connected the juncture of their 4th anniversary.

In it, we’re introduced to 3 villains they antecedently fought: Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser), the Red Ghost (John Malkovich) and his Super Apes, and the Mad Thinker. Mole Man doesn’t truly number arsenic an Easter ovum since helium plays a important (and precise funny) relation successful the movie… Though if you privation to spot overmuch much of what happened astir the FF’s archetypal clash with the underground labour organizer, cheque retired Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps comic publication by Matt Fraction and Mark Buckingham, which is acceptable successful the MCU and gets into the events astir the conflict astatine greater length.

John Malkovich's Red Ghost was chopped from the film, but we inactive perceive his sanction (and glimpse his apes).

The Red Ghost and His Super Apes

As for the Red Ghost: Yes, helium was played by John Malkovich; no, Malkovich wasn’t successful the movie. In fact, manager Matt Shakman revealed that Malkovich’s relation was chopped from the film. However, 1 of Red Ghost’s Super Apes remained successful the last cut: Peotr, who is an orangutan.

Confused? Sure, it’s confusing. Introduced successful Fantastic Four #13 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Red Ghost, aka Ivan Kragoff, is simply a Soviet idiosyncratic who tried to reproduce the shuttle formation that gave the Fantastic Four their powers, but with 3 apes. It worked, of course, with Red Ghost capable to crook into a surviving ghost, Peotr capable to repulse and pull objects, a gorilla named Mikhlo becoming super-strong, and a baboon named Igor gaining the quality to shape-shift. Not to leap up excessively much, but Red Ghost and his Super Apes each appear, successful animated form, successful the 2nd extremity credits country of the film, which is the rubric series to the in-universe Fantastic Four animated series.

The Mad Thinker

Last is Mad Thinker, who we don’t spot successful the film, and astatine this clip it’s unconfirmed whether idiosyncratic was formed and past besides chopped from the movie – though it would beryllium beauteous comic if Mad Thinker was besides Malkovich. Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich! Mad Thinker, aka Julius, is different aboriginal Fantastic Four villain, archetypal introduced successful Fantastic Four #15, erstwhile again, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Normally, he’s conscionable incredibly astute and truthful a rival to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), and that’s beauteous overmuch his full deal! He’s huffy thinking, yo.

The Mad Thinker was archetypal introduced successful Fantastic Four #15.

Giganto

Actually, there’s 1 much villain we should speech about: Giganto, the elephantine greenish monster the FF is warring successful this aforesaid montage, who is besides the 5th prima of the screen of a small comic publication called Fantastic Four #1. The country we spot is simply a adjacent nonstop reproduction of that cover, which besides happens wrong the book. Giganto is 1 of the monsters who is controlled by Mole Man, and though this has zero value to the movie, helium was created by the Deviants, the arch-enemies of the Eternals. Hopefully immoderate time they’ll marque a movie astir the Eternals, that would beryllium great!

Giganto!

‘You Baby-Proofed the World’

Another large villain name-drop happens close earlier the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) shows up, arsenic Reed reveals that he’s been “tracking a tiny fig of transgression organizations, determination and worldwide” to unopen them down earlier his babe is born. He specifically points retired 3 operating successful New York that he’s had the constabulary instrumentality down: Puppet Master, the Wizard, and Diablo.

Diablo

Diablo was introduced successful Fantastic Four #30 by – you’re not going to judge this – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. AKA Esteban Corazón de Ablo, Diablo is an alchemist who has lived for implicit a 1000 years acknowledgment to a woody with Marvel’s devil, Mephisto.

Diablo gets a notation successful the caller movie.

The Wizard

The Wizard, AKA Bentley Wittman, was besides created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, on with Lee’s younger member Larry Lieber, and was really introduced successful Strange Tales #102. However, helium is astir associated arsenic a Fantastic Four villain, and usually a person of the Frightful Four. The Wizard isn’t really magic; he’s conscionable ace intelligent and passes disconnected his subject experiments arsenic magic tricks. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) would emotion that.

The Wizard challenged the Human Torch... and lost! From Strange Tales #102.

Puppet Master

And Puppet Master is backmost to the usual, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby successful Fantastic Four #8. Philip Masters is simply a sculptor who uses radioactive clay to make tiny puppets of radical that let him to power their minds and bodies. Also of note, he’s the begetter of Alicia Masters, the unsighted sculptor who is usually romantically progressive with The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

The Puppet Master is besides the Thing's girlfriend's begetter -- due to the fact that comics.

Dragon Man

Last, conscionable to wrapper up the villains section, we get 1 much successful the cartoon extremity credits: Dragon Man. He was introduced successful Fantastic Four #35 by (crazy however this keeps happening) Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. A 16-foot-tall purple dragon android, helium was brought to beingness by Diablo and battled the Fantastic Four… Though helium overmuch aboriginal joined the squad arsenic portion of the Future Foundation.

Dragon Man was introduced successful Fantastic Four #35.

Doom?

Okay, fine, 1 much villain Easter ovum – which fixed the mid-credits country is much of a setup than a axenic egg. During that opening montage, portion Sue speaks astatine the United Nations, we cheque successful with assorted countries astir the world, but 1 is noticeably absent: Latveria, the location of the Fantastic Four’s arch-enemy, Doctor Doom. Latveria’s beingness – oregon alternatively lack – astatine the United Nations is the lone interaction it has successful the movie proper. But Doom does amusement up to bent retired with Franklin successful the mid-credits scene, disguise off. We don’t spot if it was Robert Downey Jr. successful that country oregon a assemblage double, though the mid-credits country is directed by the Russo Brothers, who are directing Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.

And erstwhile Doom does amusement up, we perceive a snippet of people that we’re apt going to perceive a batch of successful Avengers: Doomsday: “Doom?” composed by Alan Silvestri, who is doing the euphony for the upcoming MCU movie.

Robert Downey, Jr. astatine SDCC 2024.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Get Their Flowers

There are aggregate nods to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee passim the movie, astir notably that the designation Earth-828 is simply a notation to Kirby’s birthday, August 28.

Meanwhile, successful the opening montage, we observe that the vessel that initially launched the Fantastic Four connected the abstraction formation that gave them their powers is called the Excelsior, a wide notation to 1 of Lee’s astir celebrated catchphrases.

Yancy Street, location of The Thing, is chock-full of references to some creators. There’s 1 store named “Stanley’s” which is intelligibly calling retired Stan Lee’s existent name, Stanley Lieber. And different is “King’s,” which is somewhat little evident to non-comic publication fans… But Jack Kirby is nicknamed “King Kirby” due to the fact that helium was the King of comics.

Perhaps the wildest notation to the duo is erstwhile the Silver Surfer zooms implicit to Times Square to denote she’s the herald of Galactus. Right earlier she “lands,” she passes by the bureau of 2 guys who are intelligibly making comics, and are stunned by the Surfer. On the partition and drafting tables are inked and penciled pages, including 1 that is “Ogg Lives Again!” an representation Jack Kirby drew successful Tales of Suspense #27 from 1961, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. Is it imaginable that the 2 guys depicted determination were, indeed, expected to beryllium Stan and Jack? In the credits, they're Timely Employee #1 (Martin Dickinson) and Timely Employee #2 (Greg Haiste), and Timely Publications was the archetypal sanction for -- you guessed it -- Marvel Comics. Whether it's Stan and Jack oregon not, it's a amusive item that shows comics are inactive being made, adjacent with superheroes successful their midst.

And not needfully an Easter egg, but the movie ends with a punctuation from Kirby: “If you look astatine my characters, you volition find me. No substance what benignant of quality you make oregon assume, a small of yourself indispensable stay there.” It besides drives location the “828” happening due to the fact that it puts 828 close aft the quote, which past changes into 8/28/17-2/6/94 – the time helium was born, and the time helium died.

Look to the Signs

As mentioned above, determination are signs and billboards everywhere. Some look to conscionable beryllium amusive names of movies that acceptable the ’60s setting: Subzero Intel, The Emperor’s Twin, and Sunrise successful Minsk look to beryllium each mean enough, portion fans deliberation that Attack of the Fungus mightiness beryllium a notation to Pedro Pascal’s relation connected The Last of Us.

However, determination is 1 wide reference: A store successful Times Square is called Westview Appliances Television, which is simply a nonstop motion to Westview, the mounting of the Matt Shakman-directed WandaVision. And successful fact, determination was a Westview Appliance store connected that show. The much you know!

The Original Fantastic Four Appear – No, the Other Ones

Marvel’s Kevin Feige revealed a fewer days backmost that the archetypal formed of the Fantastic Four would cameo successful the caller movie. No, not the Tim Story-directed 1 from 2005… The Roger Corman-directed Fantastic Four from 1994, which was ne'er released successful theaters. And definite enough, determination they are. Alex Hyde-White, who played Reed Richards, appears arsenic ABC Newscaster William Russell. Jay Underwood, who was Johnny Storm, plays Power Plant Worker #1. Michael Bailey Smith, who was Ben Grimm, is Power Plant Worker #2. Rebecca Staab, who was Sue Storm, is Channel 9 Newscaster Carolyn Haynes.

Joseph Culp, who was Doctor Doom, is not credited successful the last movie. Cursed Richards!!

The archetypal FF yet made it onscreen.

Coincidence? Or Multiversal Incursion?

These agelong the explanation of Easter ovum further than Galactus (Ralph Ineson) tearing isolated Reed Richards, but determination are a fewer crippled points that are weirdly reminiscent of different Fantastic Four movies. In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, a stand-out country finds Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) chasing the Silver Surfer (Doug Jones), earlier having his occurrence snuffed retired successful abstraction and falling backmost to Earth. With immoderate variations, astir the nonstop aforesaid happening happens to Johnny (Joseph Quinn) successful First Steps.

Perhaps weirder is that the full crippled of 2015’s Fantastic Four hinges connected Reed Richards (Miles Teller) creating a teleportation device. Only occupation is, helium can’t adjacent transport a small artifact car oregon level without blacking retired the full neighborhood. So what does Pascal’s Reed bash successful the caller movie? Create a teleportation instrumentality that, astatine slightest initially, can’t transport an ovum crossed the country without blacking retired the full neighborhood. In the lawsuit of the caller movie, the instrumentality is called The Bridge, which is simply a notation to Jonathan Hickman’s tally successful the comics, which recovered Reed inventing a instrumentality that fto him spot the multiverse. Here, it’s fundamentally the aforesaid benignant of happening arsenic successful the 2015 movie instead.

And portion besides not a one-for-one, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) dies successful Rise of the Silver Surfer, lone for the Surfer to usage his powerfulness cosmic to revive her. Similarly, Sue dies successful First Steps, lone for Franklin Richards (Ada Scott) to usage his powerfulness cosmic to revive her.

Are these circumstantial references to the earlier movies? Almost decidedly not. But are they eerie parallels? For sure.

There’s 1 different happening we tin constituent retired present nether the class of incursions, which is that Reed precise casually mentions however determination are parallel universes, a multiverse of them, with immoderate overmuch similar our own, during his archetypal subject lecture to a clump of bored kids. It’s imaginable this is included to explicate however we, the viewing audience, are watching a antithetic beingness than the MCU. But it besides sets up that Reed knows astir the multiverse, thing that’s astir to go vitally important successful Avengers: Doomsday.

For Inez Shakman

The movie is sweetly and sadly dedicated to manager Matt Shakman’s mother, Inez Shakman, who passed distant connected April 3. You tin work her obituary here.

What different Fantastic Four Easter eggs did you catch? Let’s sermon successful the comments…