Spoilers! What that 'Fantastic Four' end-credits scene means for Marvel

USA Today

a day ago

Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' (in theaters now), so beware if you haven't seen it yet.
Marvel's new 'Fantastic Four' hints at the coterie of bad guys who inhabit the heroes' 1960s comic-book world, with names like Mole Man, Red Ghost, Wizard and Puppet Master. But by the end of the film, audiences will have met a villain who brings doom and a glimpse of one who's named Doom.
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' marks the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut for Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm, aka the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Years after gaining superpowers from being bombarded by cosmic rays in space, the astronauts-turned-superheroes face a new threat when the mysterious Silver Surfer, Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner), heralds the coming of the world-devouring Galactus (Ralph Ineson). And the only way he'll spare Earth is if Reed and Sue give him their newborn son, Franklin.
Let's dig into that cataclysmic ending, those post-credits scenes and the oh-so-teasing glimpse of none other than Doctor Doom.
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What happens in the ending of 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps'?
Because Franklin possesses the 'Power Cosmic,' Galactus seemingly eyes the baby as his planet-consuming successor. Reed and Sue convince people around the world to set up large devices that would allow Reed to teleport Earth out of Galactus' path of destruction. That doesn't work, so the Fantastic Four instead sets a trap for him in New York City, using Franklin as bait. Galactus figures out what they're doing, but Sue unleashes her powers to push the villain into a wormhole that would send him to the farthest reaches of the universe.
It works, until Galactus starts to escape it. Johnny Storm decides to sacrifice himself and flies toward Galactus to send him back into deep space but at the last minute, Shalla-Bal knocks Johnny off course and does it herself, ending the threat to Earth. The exertion to defeat Galactus has seemingly killed Sue, but Franklin brings her back to life using his abilities.
We'll see if the Surfer, who had sacrificed a life with her daughter to spare their planet from Galactus, comes riding back one day into the MCU. But Garner loved her character's ending because of how 'completely different' it was from her entrance. 'I always like it when you think somebody is a certain way on screen and then it ends up not being that way, and you end up being surprised,' she says.
Who is Franklin Richards, the superpowered baby in 'Fantastic Four'?
In the Fantastic Four comics, Franklin is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, and even as a baby in the movie, he's clearly not going to be a pushover in the MCU either. 'I always liked that this movie was about the smallest, newest, most innocent thing on a collision course with the largest, oldest, scariest thing in the universe,' director Matt Shakman says.
The filmmaker wanted to play with the idea of parental anxiety and wanting to protect them from everything, but from the point of view of a superhero mom and dad who have to deal with threats constantly. Instead, Shakman says, Reed and Sue realize 'their child is so much more powerful than they could ever imagine.'
At the end of the movie, Sue says to Reed, 'Who knows what he will become but he's here now.' 'That's all we can do,' Shakman says. 'Love our family and enjoy every precious moment that we have because the future is unknown.'
Does the new 'Fantastic Four' movie have a post-credits scene?
It has two! Shakman includes a fun little clip from the cartoon-within-a-movie 'Fantastic Four' show after all the credits roll. But the more significant sequence is a mid-credits bit set four years after the final 'First Steps' scene. Sue is reading to young Franklin, and he's already done Darwin's 'The Origin of the Species,' so she goes looking for the 1958 children's book 'A Fly Went By.' She comes back and is horrified to find a strange hooded figure speaking to Franklin and holding a familiar silver mask as Alan Silvestri's ominous 'Doom?' theme plays in the background.
Enter Doctor Doom, the infamous Fantastic Four supervillain set to be played by Robert Downey Jr. in 'Avengers: Doomsday' (in theaters Dec. 18, 2026), though with just a taste and not even a proper reveal.
'He's so iconic, he's not in my movie,' Shakman quips. 'Doom is amazing. I mean, he's Tony Stark meets Doctor Strange – the idea of magic and mysticism mixed with science and technology. He and Reed are two sides of the same coin. They're both incredibly brilliant, but Doom also has vanity and hubris and all of this stuff."
Will there be another 'Fantastic Four' movie?
A sequel probably depends on if 'First Steps' is a hit. But fans won't have to wait too long to see Pascal, Kirby, Quinn and Moss-Bachrach back in action. They're all starring in 'Doomsday' – and likely its follow-up, 'Avengers: Secret Wars' (Dec. 17, 2027) – as the Fantastic Four will team up alongside Avengers, Thunderbolts, X-Men and various other superheroes against the not-so-good Doctor.