Details of The Fantastic Four: First Steps' post-credits scene have been doing the rounds for a while, but it seems the stinger was originally going to set up the events of Avengers: Doomsday in a very different way.
According to scooper MTTSH, Marvel was considering reintroducing Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in his Nomad persona before plans changed.
Spoilers for the actual post-credits scene follow.
"For Fantastic Four: First Steps, they originally planned a post-credits scene with Chris Evans as Nomad coming to warn them. Then they replaced it with one featuring Doom. Now, in the final version, there are two post-credits scenes."
Evans recently claimed that he was "happily retired," and has no intention of reprising his most famous role. During a reent interview with Screen Rant, the Materialists star remained adamant that he won't be back, while admitting that he's sad to be missing "the party."
"I mean, it's sad to be away. It's sad to not be back with the band, but I'm sure they're doing something incredible, and I'm sure it's going to be that much harder when it comes out and you feel like you weren't invited to the party."
Before the release of Avengers: Infinity War, there was a lot of speculation that Rogers would ditch the Captain America persona and suit-up as Nomad, and while he did wind up embracing the spirit of the wandering vigilante in the movie, he never officially took up that mantle. Of course, Rogers' superhero days are long behind him in the current timeline, so if the character does return in Doomsday, he will most likely be a Multiversal variant.
First Steps stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, Freaky Tales) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Julia Garner (Wolf Man, Ozark) as the Silver Surfer.
Natasha Lyonne is also on board in an undisclosed role, but we recently learned that John Malkovich's Red Ghost has been cut from the movie.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."
Matt Shakman directs The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.