Warning! This article contains major SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*live-action Fantastic Four franchise off the ground, especially when Marvel's First Family are among the franchise's most beloved characters.
Thankfully, general enthusiasm has increased in recent months as teasers, trailers, and first-look images slowly unveil what to expect. The Fantastic Four's aesthetics embrace a classic sheen ripped straight from the comics, while the titular team prepares to face one of their most iconic nemeses: Galactus. One question that lingers, however, is how the Fantastic Four will slot into the mainline MCU - and it appears that Marvel's most recently released movie, Thunderbolts*, has duly elaborated on the details.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Takes Place In Another Universe Than The MCU
Director Matt Shakman Confirmed The Fact
It has already been confirmed that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will capitalize on the Multiverse Saga's titular MacGuffin and take place in a different universe from the MCU's Earth-616. This vindicated the prevailing theory that a superhero team as prominent as the Fantastic Four could only have slipped under the radar within the MCU if they didn't exist in the mainline universe. It would have been impossible to justify, for example, why this team would have sat out Thanos' ruinous arc in the Infinity Saga only to the fray several years later.
Marvel Studios couldn't create Fantastic Four movies in the MCU as Fox owned the distribution rights to the characters until Disney acquired the company in 2019.
Kevin Feige - who also stated that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the MCU movie he is most excited about - first hinted that The Fantastic Four: First Steps would take place in an alternative universe on The Official Marvel Podcast in June 2024. When addressing reactions to early images of the Fantastic Four and their distinctly retro-futuristic settings, Feige called observations that it must take place in an alternate universe "smart." His full quote was as follows:
"There were a lot of smart people, who noticed that that cityscape didn't look exactly like the New York that we know, or the New York that existed in the '60s in our world. And those are smart observations, I'll say."
This was tantamount to confirmation for many, as subsequent discussions took it as gospel that The Fantastic Four: First Steps would indeed play out in another universe. Then, as recently as April 2025, director Matt Shakman stated in an interview with Empire that the movie takes place in an alternate universe where the Fantastic Four are the only prominent superheroes, adding that creating the movie in its own universe was "liberating." His full quote is as follows:
“We are our own universe, which is wonderful and liberating. There's really no [other] superheroes. There's no Easter eggs. There's no running into Iron Man or whatever. They're it, in this universe. I love the interconnected Marvel Universe, but we get to do something so new and so different. Eventually, this world will meet up with other worlds — but for now this is our own little corner.”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Alternative MCU Universe Has A Deep Cut Easter Egg
The Fantastic Four: First Steps' second trailer features a very obscure double-meaning nod to real-life pop culture figures only a few may recognize.
Shakman's comments speak to one aspect of what makes The Fantastic Four: First Steps so exciting: it is not so constrained by the MCU's wider narrative. Nevertheless, while I'm intrigued by the prospect of the movie being practically entirely standalone, it's just as exciting to think of how and when the Fantastic Four will eventually get to interact with the MCU's mainline heroes. Fortunately, the trailers suggest that this will happen by the end of the movie.
The Biggest First Steps Theory Is That The Fantastic Four Will The MCU By The End
The Team Need To Visit The MCU At Some Point
Having the Fantastic Four interact with other iconic Marvel heroes is arguably the point of having them the MCU, which is partly why fans have been speculating that they'll the MCU by the end of the movie. This hope is borne out by some interesting evidence in The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailers, where Reed Richards can be seen working on an equation on a large chalkboard. Eagle-eyed viewers have noted that these equations pertain to multiversal travel, with one illustration depicting what appears to be a wormhole with one side labeled "another universe."
The circumstances surrounding the family's trip across universes are less clear.
Reed Richards is intimately aware of the multiverse in Marvel Comics, so it is no surprise that he's researching this particular topic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Nevertheless, this takes on a new meaning in the context of the Multiverse Saga and the fact that the Fantastic Four are currently disengaged from the mainline MCU's Earth-616. As fans expect the team to the MCU eventually, this evidence suggests that Reed is going to attempt the jump by the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Fantastic Four: First Steps - Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Story, & Everything We Know
The MCU is bringing a new version of the Fantastic Four as part of its Multiverse Saga, and here's what you need to know about this reboot.
The circumstances surrounding the family's trip across universes are less clear. The MCU has been spotlighting incursions as the biggest threat facing all universes in the lead-up to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, hinting that the Fantastic Four are escaping the destruction of their universe by seeking refuge in Earth-616. Alternatively, the team may be escaping Galactus after the entity destroys their Earth. Whatever the case, it appears Thunderbolts* has confirmed that the attempt will ultimately be successful.
The Thunderbolts* Post-Credits Scene Confirms The Fantastic Four In The MCU
The Fantastic Four's Spaceship Arrives In The Thunderbolts* Post-Credits Scene
Thunderbolts* was by no means concerned with the multiverse for the vast majority of its narrative, instead centering on the titular team's struggles with distinctly terrestrial concerns. Nevertheless, the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene pulled a one-eighty after the titular team embraced their new identity as the New Avengers operating within the old Avengers Tower. The scene saw Yelena Belova using some high-tech equipment to discern that an extradimensional entity had entered the vicinity of Earth, prompting them to jump into action. As the team took a closer look at the anomaly, it was revealed to be the Fantastic Four's spaceship.
The Thunderbolts* post-credits scene also reveals that the New Avengers are locked in a legal dispute with Sam Wilson's Avengers.
This ship has been revealed in trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but the recognizable number 4 emblazoned on its hull all but confirms suspicions. This reveal seems to confirm that the Fantastic Four will have entered the MCU's Earth-616 14 months after the events of Thunderbolts*, which occur just after the events of Captain America: Brave New World in 2027. It's also safe to assume that this is the first time the Fantastic Four will have visited Earth-616, which provides further insight into the details of The Fantastic Four: First Steps' narrative.
What This Means For The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Ship May Be A Misdirect
The most intuitive presumption is that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will end with the titular team escaping their universe and entering Earth-616. If so, Thunderbolts* might have just spoiled the ending for the MCU's movie, even if it merely vindicated the foremost assumptions about how things will play out. This would certainly continue a recent trend within Marvel, as the fact that the Thunderbolts would survive their self-titled movie was spoiled by the announcement that the Thunderbolts* cast would be returning for Avengers: Doomsday. Then again, Marvel Studios could be throwing a curveball.
The Thunderbolts* post-credits scene might have been a classic misdirect by Marvel. While it is safe to assume the Fantastic Four will survive The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as the cast for this movie has also been confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, this doesn't necessarily mean they are the ones in the spaceship. Instead, they may have used this as a life raft for possible victims of their universe's incursion. Better yet, the ship could be piloted by Avengers: Doomsday's titular arch-villain, Doctor Doom, himself. Whatever the case, we can only speculate until July.
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Thunderbolts*
8/10- Release Date
- May 2, 2025
- Runtime
- 127 minutes
- Director
- Jake Schreier
- Writers
- Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo
- Producers
- Kevin Feige
Cast
Yelena Belova
Bucky Barnes
Thunderbolts follows seven disillusioned individuals who find themselves trapped in a perilous situation. Tasked with a daunting mission, they must face the most shadowy aspects of their histories in order to survive and achieve their goals.
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
- July 25, 2025
- Director
- Matt Shakman
- Writers
- Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson, Stan Lee
- Producers
- Jamie Christopher, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Tim Lewis
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
Cast
Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
Vanessa KirbySue Storm / The Invisible Woman
Johnny Storm / Human Torch
Ebon Moss-BachrachBen Grimm / The Thing
The Fantastic Four: First Steps depicts Marvel's First Family navigating their roles as heroes amidst a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world. As they defend Earth from Galactus and the enigmatic Silver Surfer, they must also uphold the strength of their family bond.
MCU Movies
Sources: The Official Marvel Podcast, Empire
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