Kevin Feige Hints That THUNDERBOLTS*’s Big FANTASTIC FOUR Tease Might Not Be What We Think

Marvel fans thought they had it all figured out after Thunderbolts* ended with that jaw-dropper of a post-credits scene. It features a mysterious ship entering Earth-616’s atmosphere, right as the New Avengers were still struggling to win over public trust.

Naturally, speculation exploded… Was that the Fantastic Four finally arriving from a dying reality? And why wouldn’t we think that!? The ship had a big Fantastic Four logo on the side of it!

But Kevin Feige is here to cool our jets a bit.

In the latest issue of Empire Magazine, the Marvel Studios head was asked if that ship was the Excelsior, the signature craft of Marvel’s First Family. His response? Classic Feige mischief:

"Well, the name of their ship is the Excelsior, and there is a Fantastic Four ship entering the MCU in the tag, but I'm not sure they're the same ship."

Not. The. Same. Ship?

This implies that the the Fantastic Four might not be on that ship, and if they aren’t on board, then who is? There are a few possibilities being tossed around online.

One theory is that The Fantastic Four sent Franklin Richards alone, maybe to escape Doctor Doom and prevent him from getting his hands on multiverse-warping powers. Another, is that Doom himself stole the Excelsior and is using Reed Richards’ tech to break through the multiversal veil.

That would flip the script entirely… imagine expecting Marvel’s most first family walking off the ship and getting Victor Von Doom instead, and Victor Von Doom that looks exactly like Tony Stark.

Whatever the truth is, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which drops next month, isn’t guaranteed to answer it. That tease may be a slow burn, setting us up for something much bigger in Avengers: Doomsday.

Feige’s cryptic wordplay is nothing new. But if there’s one thing we can count on, it’s that the truth will come with some multiversal consequences.