Spoilers follow for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The MCU’s take on the Fantastic Four is finally in theaters with Fantastic Four: First Steps. And unlike other movies from Marvel Studios, this doesn’t take place on Earth-616, AKA the main MCU… Instead, it’s set on Earth-828, an alternate, retro-futuristic universe otherwise unconnected to the other Marvel movies. And because of that, it’s relatively devoid of the regular Easter eggs that are hidden everywhere in your run-of-the-mill Marvel film.

…Or is it? There are actually a fair number of references littered throughout the film, mostly to villains, as well as a few inadvertent parallels to other Fantastic Four movies. And given how the world of First Steps is packed to the gills with ads, movie marquees, and other details that zip by faster than a Fantasticar, it’s hard to catch them all with one viewing of the movie.

We did spot a bunch of Easter eggs, though, and we’ll detail them all here. But did you catch some that we missed? Then let us know in the comments so we can pick them out on the second, third, and of course, fourth time viewing the movie.

‘Well, Folks, We All Know Their Story’

Right after the opening scene of the movie, we’re taken to a montage playing on The Ted Gilbert Show, hosted by Ted Gilbert (Mark Gatiss), recounting the origin and exploits of the Fantastic Four on the occasion of their fourth anniversary.

In it, we’re introduced to three villains they previously fought: Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser), the Red Ghost (John Malkovich) and his Super Apes, and the Mad Thinker. Mole Man doesn’t really count as an Easter egg since he plays a crucial (and very funny) role in the movie… Though if you want to see much more of what happened around the FF’s initial clash with the underground labor organizer, check out Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps comic book by Matt Fraction and Mark Buckingham, which is set in the MCU and gets into the events around the battle at greater length.

The Red Ghost and His Super Apes

As for the Red Ghost: Yes, he was played by John Malkovich; no, Malkovich wasn’t in the movie. In fact, director Matt Shakman revealed that Malkovich’s role was cut from the film. However, one of Red Ghost’s Super Apes remained in the final cut: Peotr, who is an orangutan.

Confused? Sure, it’s confusing. Introduced in Fantastic Four #13 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Red Ghost, aka Ivan Kragoff, is a Soviet scientist who tried to reproduce the shuttle flight that gave the Fantastic Four their powers, but with three apes. It worked, of course, with Red Ghost able to turn into a living ghost, Peotr able to repulse and attract objects, a gorilla named Mikhlo becoming super-strong, and a baboon named Igor gaining the ability to shape-shift. Not to jump ahead too much, but Red Ghost and his Super Apes all appear, in animated form, in the second end credits scene of the film, which is the title sequence to the in-universe Fantastic Four animated series.

The Mad Thinker

Last is Mad Thinker, who we don’t see in the film, and at this time it’s unconfirmed whether someone was cast and then also cut from the movie – though it would be pretty funny if Mad Thinker was also Malkovich. Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich! Mad Thinker, aka Julius, is another early Fantastic Four villain, first introduced in Fantastic Four #15, once again, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Normally, he’s just incredibly smart and therefore a rival to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), and that’s pretty much his whole deal! He’s mad thinking, yo.

Giganto

Actually, there’s one more villain we should talk about: Giganto, the giant green monster the FF is fighting in this same montage, who is also the fifth star of the cover of a little comic book called Fantastic Four #1. The scene we see is a near direct reproduction of that cover, which also happens inside the book. Giganto is one of the monsters who is controlled by Mole Man, and though this has zero importance to the movie, he was created by the Deviants, the arch-enemies of the Eternals. Hopefully some day they’ll make a movie about the Eternals, that would be great!

‘You Baby-Proofed the World’

Another big villain name-drop happens right before the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) shows up, as Reed reveals that he’s been “tracking a small number of criminal organizations, regional and worldwide” to shut them down before his baby is born. He specifically points out three operating in New York that he’s had the police take down: Puppet Master, the Wizard, and Diablo.

Diablo

Diablo was introduced in Fantastic Four #30 by – you’re not going to believe this – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. AKA Esteban Corazón de Ablo, Diablo is an alchemist who has lived for over a thousand years thanks to a deal with Marvel’s devil, Mephisto.

The Wizard

The Wizard, AKA Bentley Wittman, was also created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, along with Lee’s younger brother Larry Lieber, and was actually introduced in Strange Tales #102. However, he is most associated as a Fantastic Four villain, and usually a leader of the Frightful Four. The Wizard isn’t actually magic; he’s just super intelligent and passes off his science experiments as magic tricks. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) would love that.

Puppet Master

And Puppet Master is back to the usual, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #8. Philip Masters is a sculptor who uses radioactive clay to create small puppets of people that allow him to control their minds and bodies. Also of note, he’s the father of Alicia Masters, the blind sculptor who is usually romantically involved with The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

Dragon Man

Last, just to wrap up the villains section, we get one more in the cartoon end credits: Dragon Man. He was introduced in Fantastic Four #35 by (crazy how this keeps happening) Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. A 16-foot-tall purple dragon android, he was brought to life by Diablo and battled the Fantastic Four… Though he much later joined the team as part of the Future Foundation.

Doom?

Okay, fine, one more villain Easter egg – which given the mid-credits scene is more of a setup than a pure egg. During that opening montage, while Sue speaks at the United Nations, we check in with various countries around the world, but one is noticeably absent: Latveria, the home of the Fantastic Four’s arch-enemy, Doctor Doom. Latveria’s presence – or rather absence – at the United Nations is the only impact it has in the movie proper. But Doom does show up to hang out with Franklin in the mid-credits scene, mask off. We don’t see if it was Robert Downey Jr. in that scene or a body double, though the mid-credits scene is directed by the Russo Brothers, who are directing Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.

And when Doom does show up, we hear a snippet of score that we’re likely going to hear a lot of in Avengers: Doomsday: “Doom?” composed by Alan Silvestri, who is doing the music for the upcoming MCU movie.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Get Their Flowers

There are multiple nods to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee throughout the movie, most notably that the designation Earth-828 is a reference to Kirby’s birthday, August 28.

Meanwhile, in the beginning montage, we discover that the ship that initially launched the Fantastic Four on the space flight that gave them their powers is called the Excelsior, a clear reference to one of Lee’s most famous catchphrases.

Yancy Street, home of The Thing, is chock-full of references to both creators. There’s one store named “Stanley’s” which is clearly calling out Stan Lee’s real name, Stanley Lieber. And another is “King’s,” which is slightly less obvious to non-comic book fans… But Jack Kirby is nicknamed “King Kirby” because he was the King of comics.

Perhaps the wildest reference to the duo is when the Silver Surfer zooms over to Times Square to announce she’s the herald of Galactus. Right before she “lands,” she passes by the office of two guys who are clearly making comics, and are stunned by the Surfer. On the wall and drafting tables are inked and penciled pages, including one that is “Ogg Lives Again!” an image Jack Kirby drew in Tales of Suspense #27 from 1961, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. Is it possible that the two guys depicted there were, indeed, supposed to be Stan and Jack? In the credits, they're Timely Employee #1 (Martin Dickinson) and Timely Employee #2 (Greg Haiste), and Timely Publications was the original name for -- you guessed it -- Marvel Comics. Whether it's Stan and Jack or not, it's a fun detail that shows comics are still being made, even with superheroes in their midst.

And not necessarily an Easter egg, but the movie ends with a quote from Kirby: “If you look at my characters, you will find me. No matter what kind of character you create or assume, a little of yourself must remain there.” It also drives home the “828” thing because it puts 828 right after the quote, which then changes into 8/28/17-2/6/94 – the day he was born, and the day he died.

Look to the Signs

As mentioned above, there are signs and billboards everywhere. Some seem to just be fun names of movies that fit the ’60s setting: Subzero Intel, The Emperor’s Twin, and Sunrise in Minsk seem to be all normal enough, while fans think that Attack of the Fungus might be a reference to Pedro Pascal’s role on The Last of Us.

However, there is one clear reference: A store in Times Square is called Westview Appliances Television, which is a direct nod to Westview, the setting of the Matt Shakman-directed WandaVision. And in fact, there was a Westview Appliance store on that show. The more you know!

The Original Fantastic Four Appear – No, the Other Ones

Marvel’s Kevin Feige revealed a few days back that the original cast of the Fantastic Four would cameo in the new movie. No, not the Tim Story-directed one from 2005… The Roger Corman-directed Fantastic Four from 1994, which was never released in theaters. And sure enough, there they are. Alex Hyde-White, who played Reed Richards, appears as ABC Newscaster William Russell. Jay Underwood, who was Johnny Storm, plays Power Plant Worker #1. Michael Bailey Smith, who was Ben Grimm, is Power Plant Worker #2. Rebecca Staab, who was Sue Storm, is Channel 9 Newscaster Carolyn Haynes.

Joseph Culp, who was Doctor Doom, is not credited in the final movie. Cursed Richards!!

Coincidence? Or Multiversal Incursion?

These stretch the definition of Easter egg further than Galactus (Ralph Ineson) tearing apart Reed Richards, but there are a few plot points that are weirdly reminiscent of other Fantastic Four movies. In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, a stand-out scene finds Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) chasing the Silver Surfer (Doug Jones), before having his flame snuffed out in space and falling back to Earth. With some variations, nearly the exact same thing happens to Johnny (Joseph Quinn) in First Steps.

Perhaps weirder is that the whole plot of 2015’s Fantastic Four hinges on Reed Richards (Miles Teller) creating a teleportation device. Only problem is, he can’t even transport a little toy car or plane without blacking out the whole neighborhood. So what does Pascal’s Reed do in the new movie? Create a teleportation device that, at least initially, can’t transport an egg across the room without blacking out the whole neighborhood. In the case of the new movie, the device is called The Bridge, which is a reference to Jonathan Hickman’s run in the comics, which found Reed inventing a machine that let him see the multiverse. Here, it’s basically the same sort of thing as in the 2015 movie instead.

And while also not a one-for-one, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) dies in Rise of the Silver Surfer, only for the Surfer to use his power cosmic to revive her. Similarly, Sue dies in First Steps, only for Franklin Richards (Ada Scott) to use his power cosmic to revive her.

Are these specific references to the earlier movies? Almost definitely not. But are they eerie parallels? For sure.

There’s one other thing we can point out here under the category of incursions, which is that Reed very casually mentions how there are parallel universes, a multiverse of them, with some much like our own, during his initial science lecture to a bunch of bored kids. It’s possible this is included to explain how we, the viewing audience, are watching a different universe than the MCU. But it also sets up that Reed knows about the multiverse, something that’s about to become vitally important in Avengers: Doomsday.

For Inez Shakman

The movie is sweetly and sadly dedicated to director Matt Shakman’s mother, Inez Shakman, who passed away on April 3. You can read her obituary here.

What other Fantastic Four Easter eggs did you catch? Let’s discuss in the comments…