Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has just dropped a big hint about how The Fantastic Four: First Steps will connect to the rest of the MCU as it kicks off Marvel Phase 6, all hinging on the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts*, in which the newly minted New Avengers watch the FF's ship the Excelsior approach Earth on a view screen.
"Their ship is the Excelsior, and there is a Fantastic Four ship entering the MCU ... But I'm not sure they’re the same ship," Feige tells Empire Magazine (via Culture Crave).
The thing is, even as a lifelong comic reader and fan of the Fantastic Four, I have no idea what the heck he means by this.
It doesn't help that there's not any more context given with the tease. There are a few possibilities that spring to mind, but the grammar puzzle nature of Feige's words - likely intentional - leaves me with more questions than answers.
My best guess is that the ship, while similar to the Excelsior, is a different ship of some kind. It could be a different, souped-up ship that the FF will use to travel between dimensions. Or perhaps even something related to Doctor Doom.
Maybe most likely is the idea that the ship will be a vessel by which Reed Richards and his family are able to escape the destruction of their home universe. In the lead up to 2015's Secret Wars, Reed helps build a so-called "ark" that allows him and some of Marvel's heroes to escape reality being rewritten around them.
What seems least likely is that there's yet another Fantastic Four besides the team that lives in their own side reality away from the core MCU. It's all but certain that the ones who star in The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be the same FF to travel into the MCU. That said, it's not impossible that this is somehow the Reed Richards and family of the core MCU, or some other strange twist.
We probably won't find out exactly what the deal is until The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else that's on the way.
