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- There are many heartwarming nods to the Fantastic Four's creators.
- There's also a big shout-out to an alternate Fantastic Four team.
- The origin of The Thing's catchphrase is based on real life.
- The rogue's gallery of minor villains will delight comics fans.
- A missing delegate signals bigger things to come.
With Fantastic Four: First Steps in theaters, Marvel has logged its 37th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On top of that, there are decades upon decades of Marvel Comics to draw from. With so many rich sources of inspiration, it's almost too easy for them to sneak in references, nods, homages and other tidbits that are just there for the excitement of other fans. These are some of the best Marvel Easter eggs to try and catch in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Some are easy to spot on a first viewing, and others may require a quick pause-button finger (or a playlist of all the trailers and behind-the-scenes features on repeat).
There are many heartwarming nods to the Fantastic Four's creators.
Love for legendary Marvel creators starts with the first text that appears on the screen: Earth-828. Fans might already know how Marvel often uses numbers to distinguish alternate universes and timelines. (Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World both take place in Earth-616, for example.) But comics fans will recognize that Earth-828 is not one that's picked up from comic books. Instead, Earth-828 is a reference to the birthday of Fantastic Four co-creator Jack Kirby, who was born on August 28, 1917.
And that's not the only place in Fantastic Four: First Steps that pays homage to the team's creators. At one point, there's a brief moment when the movie shows two men through a window, working at a drafting table — it's supposed to be Kirby and Stan Lee. When Ben Grimm Visits Yancey Street — the street where Grimm grew up in the comics — there are stores called King Dry Cleaners (Kirby's nickname was "The King") and Stanley’s Service Center (sounds like Stan Lee's Service Center). And when they're getting ready to do battle in Times Square, there's a sign for Timely Comics — the name of a company that eventually became Marvel Comics. It's heartwarming to see that, although Kirby and Lee aren't around to do cameos in these movies anymore, they can still have some kind of presence.
There's also a big shout-out to an alternate Fantastic Four team.
It doesn't take a deep knowledge of Marvel history to know that this isn't the first group of actors assembled into a Fantastic Four cast. And, in a nod to those who came before, Fantastic Four: First Steps slips another F4 team into small roles. But don't go looking for Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis or Ioan Gruffudd in the background — it's not the 2005 cast. And those who guess that Kata Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell and Miles Teller of the 2015 cast would turn up would also be wrong.
Instead, the F4 crew that cameos in the film are from 1994's The Fantastic Four — a Roger Corman-produced version of the comics that was filmed but never actually released. (A rough version of it is available on YouTube.) The cast featured Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab, Jay Underwood, and Michael Bailey Smith, and, in a cute nod to the idea of multiverses and reboots, all four actors turn up in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Hyde-White and Staab play newscasters, while Underwood and Bailey Smith are power plant workers. What a way to pass the (human) torch!
The origin of The Thing's catchphrase is based on real life.
If people know one thing about The Fantastic Four, it's probably The Thing's catchphrase: It's clobbering time! In Fantastic Four: First Steps (and in the 2005 version), Ben Grimm doesn't particularly like his new slogan, or when people on the street ask him to shout it out. "That's not really something I say," he says. "That's just in the cartoon."
In the movie, there are a few clips and snippets from the cartoon in question (and there's even more for viewers who stay to the end of the credits). But in actuality, there really was a cartoon of The Fantastic Four, produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1967. The cartoon in Fantastic Four: First Steps is clearly done in the same style; the characters run like characters from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, another Hanna-Barbera production.
The rogue's gallery of minor villains will delight comics fans.
Though Galactus and the Silver Surfer loom large over the movie, it turns out The Fantastic Four have defeated a lot of villains even before the events of Fantastic Four: First Steps. When their past achievements are celebrated and their current foes are listed, there are many villains in the mix that will pop for comics fans: Mad Thinker, The Wizard, Puppet Master, Mole Man, Giganto, Diablo and the Red Ghost and his army of super apes.
One of those was actually supposed to have a bigger part in the film. Actor John Malkovich was cast as the Red Ghost and even filmed some scenes, though he was cut from the final movie. (Very sharp-eyed viewers might've been able to spot him in an early trailer.) “There was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie, and some things had to go,” director Matt Shakman told Variety. “John is one of my favorite humans and one of my biggest inspirations. It was heartbreaking not to include him.”
A missing delegate signals bigger things to come.
Despite the many villains mentioned in Fantastic Four: First Steps, one of them is almost suspiciously absent: Victor Von Doom, a.k.a. Dr. Doom. The nefarious doctor has been featured in every previous Fantastic Four movie franchise, even the unreleased one.
But that doesn't mean his arrival isn't hinted at — heralded, if you want to borrow a phrase from the Silver Surfer. There are a few times when Sue Storm addresses an F4-created, UN-like organization called the Future Foundation (which also exists in the comics). A couple of times, the camera pans past a spot saved for the (fictional) country of Latveria — the chair is empty, the delegate missing. Victor Von Doom is from Latveria.
Those who follow Marvel news outside the films know that they've already chosen a high-profile Marvel alum to play Dr. Doom: Robert Downey, Jr. the erstwhile Iron Man. He's slated to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, which is scheduled to come out in December 2026. In a teaser for the film, Downey sets up a bunch of director's chairs with the names of all of the other actors who are in the film — the many, many, many actors from every corner of the MCU. His chair is next to Pedro Pascal's, so fans will be treated to a Mr. Fantastic/Dr. Doom face-off in the future.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
