Although the vast majority of The Fantastic Four: Fist Steps takes place in the very specific Marvel dimension of Earth-828 by the end of 2026, this super-family will find themselves in the mainline Marvel Universe, Earth-199999, presumably, as part of a new version of the Avengers. Although First Steps has a fairly self-contained ending, there’s still a very big hint as to how this eventual crossover will take place.
Here’s what happens in the mid-credits scene and post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and how the entire movie sneakily and subtly sets up a multiverse crossover for Avengers: Doomsday next year.
Spoilers ahead.
First Steps Mid-Credits Scene, Explained
After the ending of the movie, and some colorful credits featuring the main cast, we get a very brief mid-credits scene. Four years after the events of First Steps, Sue (Vanessa Kirby) is reading to young Franklin, who is now a little older and talking. But this sweet scene is interrupted by the appearance of a figure wearing a green cape, and holding the distinctive mask of Doctor Doom. We don’t see Doctor Doom’s face, but presumably, this is the Robert Downey Jr. take on the character, who will appear in Avengers: Doomsday next year.
Believe it or not, First Steps actually teased the arrival of Doctor Doom much earlier in the film. When we see Sue Storm addressing the Future Foundation, the camera lingers on a placard for the nation of Latveria, which has an empty seat. This is Doctor Doom’s home country in Marvel Comics, which seems to indicate the version of Doctor Doom we will see in Avengers: Doomsday will come from Earth-828 and not Earth-199999.
The text on the screen tells us that “The Fantastic Four will return in Avengers: Doomsday.” So, presumably, we’ll have to wait and see how everybody crosses over.
Wait, didn’t Thunderbolts* already show the Fantastic Four crossover?
Oddly enough, even before First Steps hit theaters, the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* already teased an event that is clearly in the future for Johnny, Sue, Ben, and Reed. At the end of that movie, the New Avengers encounter a rocketship that looks very much like the Excelsior, entering into the airspace of Earth-199999, AKA, the regular MCU. How will the Fantastic Four get there? Will they be chasing Doctor Doom? Right now, we don’t know.
That said, First Steps did sneakily set-up the idea of inter-dimensional travel already. In a very early scene, we see Reed talking to a group of school children about how traveling between dimensions is already theoretically possible. The kids are bored by this and want to see a big explosion instead, but, clearly, Reed has (probably) already worked out the science of how to get from one version of Earth to another.
What About The Fantastic Four’s Post Credits Scene?
In addition to the somewhat serious mid-credits scene, The Fantastic Four: First Steps also has a jokey post-credits scene. Here, we get more footage from the in-universe cartoon version called The Fantastic Four: Power Hour. Throughout the movie, we only see glimpses of this, but this gives us more of the opening credits of the fictional show. The style of this cartoon is very much an homage to the 1967 animated TV version of The Fantastic Four, which was created by Hanna-Barbera and lasted for one year.
This scene doesn’t really set anything up, but it does sort of make us wish that this new version of the cartoon was real. The full theme song for “The Fantastic Four: Power Hour” is on the just-released soundtrack for the movie, composed by Michael Giacchino.
