SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk!
The post-credits scene in Thunderbolts* provides fans with some big revelations about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's not only said that there are two different Avengers teams (the groups in conflict over the moniker), but the final moment revealed the arrival of the Fantastic Four into the universe via rocket ship. It was particularly cool to see the latter play out when the blockbuster arrived in theaters last May, the glimpse serving as a fun cliffhanger... but those of you who saw Fantastic Four: First Steps this past weekend may have noticed that the new release doesn't make any kind of effort to link up with its MCU predecessor.
So why doesn't the end of Fantastic Four: First Steps line up with the end of Thunderbolts* as the franchise builds to the release of the epic Avengers: Doomsday in December 2026? CinemaBlend's own Jeff McCobb recently broached that subject in an interview with director Matt Shakman during the Los Angeles press day for the new 2025 movie, and the filmmaker gave an honest answer: he couldn't connect the end of his movie to the end of the blockbuster also known as The New Avengers because that movie's end credit scene didn't exist when the script was being written. Said Shakman,
No, no, no, because 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, you know?… I often use the metaphor of it's, you know, like a relay race, right? You pass the baton, you run your section of it as hard and fast as you can, do the best you can with your version of Fantastic Four – Earth 828, this world – and then you pass the baton, in this case to the Russo brothers.
Because of the special unified continuity of the franchise and the behind-the-scenes oversight of the Marvel Studios Parliament and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, there is often a misconception about the Marvel Cinematic Universe that there is a big master plan and specific beats coordinated in every release. There is a Marvel timeline maintained and big picture ideas that influence upcoming Marvel movies and upcoming Marvel TV shows – but in the case of Fantastic Four: First Steps, for instance, there was no directive to have the story written so that it would end with Marvel's First Family arriving in the MCU (a.k.a. go from their home on Earth 828 to Earth 616).
As a result of Fantastic Four: First Steps seeing all of its action kept to a single level of the multiverse, we currently have no idea how the team will be executing the reality hoping that will be necessary to see them enter the universe where two different Avengers rosters are in conflict. Because it's doubtful that an answer will be arriving next summer with the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (in theaters July 31, 2026), it's likely going to be a part of the plotting in Avengers: Doomsday.
Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters everywhere, and we now have less than a year-and-a-half before the arrival of the next MCU capstone film, as Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to debut December 18, 2026. The massive blockbuster, helmed by Joe and Anthony Russo and featuring an outstanding roster of heroes, is now in production, so be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days, weeks and months for all of the biggest updates and reveals about it.
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