Warning: This post contains spoilers for Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in a different version of Earth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically Earth-828 rather than the Earth-616 we’ve come to know and maybe love from the several dozen MCU films that came before it. That’s why the post-credits scene from Thunderbolts* , where we see The Fantastic Four land on Earth-616, stirred up excitement for many a Marvel fan. Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm will officially interact with other MCU characters!
That post-credits scene, however, confused those who were expecting to see The Fantastic Four jump Earths in the post-credits scene for First Steps. Instead of some multiverse hopping, we see the back of Robert Downey Jr.’s head, mask in hand, as he bends over a four-year-old Franklin Richards, Sue and Reed’s son. Intriguing scene? Yes. But not something that really ties in well with what we saw in Thunderbolts*.
So is the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene a hint at what’s to come in Avengers: Doomsday or another MCU film? Perhaps, but the behind-the-scenes situation sounds a bit more complicated. In an interview with Cinemablend, Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman explained why his film didn’t line up with the post-credit scene that came before it.
“The Thunderbolts* end credit scene was also created, you know, relatively late in my process too, so that was not something that I was familiar with because it hadn’t been created at the time that I was working on my script,” he said, adding that the creation of the MCU is like a relay race, where directors pass the baton.
In this case, it turns out the post-credits scenes for both Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four were directed by the Russo Brothers, who are helming Avengers: Doomsday. How those two scenes connect to Doomsday, it seems, is a question for the Russo Brothers. Unsurprisingly, they’re being tight-lipped about the whole thing, though they did confirm in an interview on the Phase Hero podcast that that was, indeed, the back of Downey’s head and not a stand-in.
We’ll get to see Downey’s face (presumably) and lots and lots of other MCU actors when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026.
