Marvel’s Fantastic Four: The First Steps packs hidden MCU easter eggs

Marvel signals a legacy play with The Fantastic Four: The First Steps, a retro futurist reset that hides its biggest winks and easter eggs in plain sight while keeping the story focused. Opening on July 25, 2025, the Matt Shakman-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and features Ralph Ineson as Galactus.

Kevin Feige produces, with Louis D’Esposito, Grant Curtis, and Tim Lewis as executive producers. The screenplay is credited to Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer. The plot unfolds on Earth 828, a 1960s-style reality where the team faces Galactus as Sue prepares to welcome Franklin Richards.

The film layers tributes to Jack Kirby, slips in a Stan Lee and Kirby studio gag, nods to WandaVision, and even thanks the 1994 cast with blink-and-miss cameos.

It is Marvel honouring Marvel while setting the table for the next phase.

The First Steps MCU nods and MCU easter eggs decoded

Earth 828 is the first breadcrumb. The number is a tribute to Jack Kirby’s birthday on August 28, and the film closes with a Kirby quote before that tag.

Marvel spells out the Kirby focus and confirms the Earth 828 nod in its coverage. As per the Marvel.com report dated July 25, 2025, Matt Shakman put the design brief in four words:

“We talked about it as being where “Kirby meets Kubrick.”

The Kirby salute runs deeper than a label. One of Shakman’s favourite shots recreates the cover of Fantastic Four 1, and the end credits carry a Kirby line. Kevin Feige adds the intention behind it: as per the Marvel.com report dated July 25, 2025,

“There are direct lines from his pencil that he drew with at his drawing board by himself, pouring his universe-spanning imagination on to the page. There are direct lines from there into this film.”

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby even “appear,” but not as a live-action cameo. An animated studio sequence that mirrors their meta appearance from Fantastic Four 10, with Timely Comics touches and a direct nod to Doom lore. That is Marvel history folded into Marvel cinema.

The film is deliberately light on cross-franchise noise. As per the Marvel.com report dated July 25, 2025, Shakman stated,

“I didn’t intentionally fill it full of MCU Easter eggs.”

He allows one clean WandaVision callback with a Westview Appliances storefront in Times Square, then points viewers back to the Kirby well.

Cameos and callbacks most viewers miss on first watch

Marvel quietly thanks the 1994 Roger Corman cast. The audience can spot Alex Hyde White, Rebecca Staab, Jay Underwood, and Michael Bailey Smith in the opening montage and press scenes. These are not stunt cameos.

They are an acknowledgement of the franchise’s odd path to the screen and a small gift to long-time fans of Marvel’s first family.

Latveria is present too, but by absence. A Future Foundation assembly scene includes a conspicuously empty Latverian seat.

It connects the prop to the inevitable path toward Doctor Doom, matching the film’s policy of breadcrumbing rather than spelling out. It is a restrained tell that keeps the focus on this story while letting Marvel seed the future.

How these easter eggs set up what comes next

Franklin Richards is the hinge. The mid-credits reveal that places Franklin at the center of the next crossover, while the animated button celebrates the team’s earlier media life.

Franklin’s comic potential is revealed by recalling runs where Galactus becomes his herald, which explains why Marvel plants him early here. The film’s own makers describe the philosophy.

As per the Marvel.com report dated July 25, 2025, Shakman said,

“He’s a visionary. We would have no Marvel Studios today without Jack Kirby.”

That is the north star for the design, the cameos, and the restraint. It also explains why Marvel keeps this story self-contained while still aligning with the Avengers' plans.

Stay tuned for more updates.