THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Post-Credits Scene Features Classic Marvel Comics Characters

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In “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” a few antagonists from Marvel Comics are alluded to yet unseen, but they make their animated debut in the closing credits of this Fantastic Four movie. The director, Matt Shakman, crafted these scenes to resemble the rough animation from the classic Saturday morning “Fantastic Four” cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera during the late ’60s. Unfortunately, these animations aren’t available on Disney+ just yet; it might be due to rights issues, and we eagerly anticipate a resolution soon.

Did you know this trivia? Almost all of these supervillains made their debut during the first four years of the Fantastic Four, which aligns with their timeline in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). These iconic adversaries were teased at the end of the cartoon in a post-credits scene after the main story concluded.

The Puppet Master (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #8, 1962)

he crafts small figurines of his adversaries and manipulates them like dolls from a science fiction horror story. His greatest enemy is Ben Grimm, the Thing, because Ben had the audacity to court and eventually marry his daughter Alicia. For over six decades, the Puppet Master has been a constant annoyance for the Richards family. However, since Ben married Alicia, he’s officially become part of the family now.

The Red Ghost (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #13, 1963)

Almost John Malkovich, an Academy Award winner, was set to portray this villain in the film itself. In the original comics, Red Ghost was a Russian scientist who commanded a troop of “super apes,” which he unleashed against the Fantastic Four. Despite Matt Shakman ultimately removing Malkovich from the final cut, they subtly mentioned Red Ghost at the beginning of the movie. And in an exciting twist, Mr. Fantastic throws one of these apes into a river. Here’s hoping we can enjoy Malkovich’s full scene someday, perhaps even as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray edition.

The Mad Thinker (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #15, 1963)

Discussing the type of eccentric scientists, another initial adversary for Fantastic Four, designed by Lee and Kirby, the Mad Thinker, debuted in 1963. His area of expertise was robotics, using them to challenge the team. However, his “Awesome Android” turned out to be far from impressive, with the team easily defeating him. Interestingly enough, this character played a significant role in arranging the first encounter between the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Known as Julius after half a century, the Mad Thinker was also responsible for creating Quasimodo, a sentient computer. Yet, he failed to outsmart Reed Richards’ genius. Despite this, the Mad Thinker still occasionally resurfaces to cause mischief for the Fantastic Four and other Marvel heroes.

Diablo (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #30, 1964)

Diablo, another early adversary of the Fantastic Four, made his debut in the second scene after the credits. Originating from 9th-century Spain, he is an ancient alchemist known as Esteban Corazón de Ablo, a name that follows Stan Lee’s humorous naming style. To prolong his life, he struck a deal with Mephisto, the demon lord (you may recall him). Though not quite on par with Doctor Strange in terms of mastery over the mystic arts, Diablo is still a formidable practitioner of dark magic. When the Fantastic Four initially crossed paths with him, he resided in a Transylvanian castle; however, since then, he has moved to various other locations. To this day, he persistently torments the Fantastic Four.

The Sentry Sinister (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #64, 1967)

The robot we see in the cartoon battles with the FF might resemble one of the mutant-hunting Sentinels from X-Men, but it’s actually a cheap imitation. Interestingly, this knock-off was developed by the same creators, Lee and Kirby, who also designed the original Sentinels for the X-Men. During their busy days creating numerous concepts and characters for various comics, they occasionally recycled ideas. One such instance was the creation of a robot named Sentry, hailing from Kree origin. This Sentry fought against the FF and shut down when it lost, making it an alien version of the Sentinel.

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2025-07-25 05:04