The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman is opening up about why the movie’s ending doesn’t quite line up with the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* which appears to show the Fantastic Four’s ship arriving in the MCU from their own Earth-828. If you’ve seen Fantastic Four – and don’t worry, we won’t spoil the details of the ending here if you haven’t – you know that the movie stops short of explaining the exact connection between its ending and Thunderbolts* showing the ship arriving.
As it turns out, it comes down to a timing issue, with Shakman explaining to CinemaBlend that his script was too far along when the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene was filmed to make changes.
“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?” Shakman tells CinemaBlend. “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.”
All of that said, there’s nothing in Fantastic Four that conflicts with Thunderbolts*. And both the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene and the one from The Fantastic Four: First Steps were directed by Avengers: Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo, so it’s not totally without direct connective tissue between the two scenes.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now in theaters, kicking off Marvel Phase 6. For more, check out our guides to upcoming Marvel movies and shows and how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
