The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene sets the stage for Avengers: Doomsday with a tantalising glimpse of Doctor Doom as he ominously approaches young Franklin Richards.
The second stinger was less of a must-see, as it featured the animated introduction to an in-universe cartoon starring Marvel's First Family. That's where The Thing's catchphrase, "It's Clobberin' Time," originated, and the opening also included several of the team's classic foes.
Marvel Studios artist Joshua James Shaw (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man) has shared the work he did on a sequence that was originally supposed to be part of the montage at the start of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
"The lines on these taper a bit too finely for the '60s look," Shaw wrote. "They are more bold in the movie. The difficulty was striping enough lines away while still retaining the likenesses. On the 2nd slide, I drew over Ryan’s 3D model of the Thing to bridge the gap between his movie look and the '60s cartoon."
"He ended up looking closer to the 60s cartoon in the final movie," he added. "Also, Marvel's Zombies comes out this month! It's my favorite What If...? season. I really hope everyone likes it."
Filmmaker Matt Shakman created a fleshed-out world for these characters with Earth 828. While we'll return there in Avengers: Doomsday, the expectation is that the Fantastic Four will eventually end up on the same timeline as the Avengers and X-Men, post-Secret Wars.
Check out Shaw's designs for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the Instagram post below.
In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.
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.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
The movie is now playing in theaters.