Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps is finally out on digital and there’s a surprise waiting for fans who purchase a copy. The MCU’s introduction to these heroes is absolutely littered with references to the comics and details for eagle-eyed fans. But, the digital release has something really neat for viewers who stick through the end of the credits. And, it’s a surprise that people didn’t really get during opening weekend at the theater.

Fans on social media who picked up the digital release shared that there’s a secret QR code at the end of the movie. Inside the Future Foundation logo, after the credits roll, Marvel tucked in a secret message. It reads, “The Future Foundation extends its thanks” with a QR code attached. It’s interesting and completely unexpected after seeing the movie more than once!

By scanning the code and following that link, viewers are treated to a Future Foundation landing page with some free comics titles to sift through. Marvel calls them “additional materials” for Marvel Unlimited. This is a fun little bonus until The Fantastic Four return in Avengers: Doomsday next winter. These comics also cover a lot of the plot points presented in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. So, let’s dive in and discuss what we’ve found here!

The Fantastic Four’s biggest story: “The Galactus Trilogy”

Viewers got a taste of The Fantastic Four’s origins in the Marvel movie this summer. But, by scanning that QR code, they can read the comic that started it all. 1961’s first issue is even part of an homage to the team that played in the promotional material for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. But, that’s just the intro to their larger adventures.

Issue #48 heralds the coming of Galactus. And here, the trilogy of issues gets its name for real. The Watcher is on-hand for the Marvel heroes facing their biggest threat yet. The Silver Surfer and Galactus appear first here in the pages of $48. This super family is going to have to find some way to defeat something beyond their comprehension.

Across the pages of The Fantastic Four #48-$50, the team figures out a way to drive back The Devourer of Worlds. And, as an added bonus, the Marvel Universe now has a Silver Surfer flying around to account for. This is the kind of grand storytelling that makes this era of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and more such a delight to read, even now!

Earth X and other oddities

Shalla-Bal in the new movie is inspired by Earth X’s take on The Silver Surfer. In the main universe, the tragic love of Norin Radd (Silver Surfer), but on an alternate Earth, a herald of Galactus herself. Julia Garner brings some icy intensity to Shalla-Bal’s plight in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Another big addition to these free comics is The Fantastic Four: Life Story. If you were going to pick one book that really helped form some of the tone for the Marvel movie, this would be a great pick. With all the retro-futurism about, it makes sense to use the Fantastic Four origin story most wedded to the 1960s. The gorgeous art is an added bonus too.

Maybe the most sneaky addition here is the first issue of Jonathan Hickman’s run with Marvel’s First Family. As The Multiverse Saga has lightly riffed on the storyline “Time Runs Out,” a Hickman product through and through, it’s good to see the moment that Reed Richards resolves to “Solve Everything” included for curious fans too. We see tinges of Mister Fantastic’s compulsive drive to perfect things here, but it can get much more dire!

(Photo Credit: Marvel Studios)

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Aaron Perine

Aaron Perine is a writer that covers Free Streaming TV, normal TV, small TV (the kind that plays on your phone mostly!), and even movies sometimes!

Phase Hero co-host. Host of Free Space: The Free Streaming TV Podcast.

If you’re a queer Marvel fan like me and you’ve already devoured all of Ironheart (and read Nic’s amazing piece about the show), you are probably also geeking about how queer it is, especially compared to other Marvel properties. With Runaways scrubbed from the face of the internet (:sob:), Agatha All Along currently stands as the queerest entry in the MCU canon, but Ironheart almost gave it a run for its money with the very queer “be gay, do crime” crew we met in the first batch of three episodes. Between Slug, the nonbinary hacker played by Shea Couleé and trans Blood Sibling Jeri played by Zoe Terakes, plus hints here and there that Riri herself could be queer (e.g. her not correcting her mother when she asked if Riri was hiding a boy or girl in her room, and a sticker I spotted on her door that I thiiiiink is a rainbow helmet), Ironheart was off to the queer races from the jump.

In the second batch of episodes, we meet Zelma, a witch Riri goes to for help solving her little Hood problem. As we know, from real life, general pop culture, and Agatha All Along, all witches are inherently queer. However, it’s always a delight to have it confirmed. Zelma is played by Regan Aliyah, who you might know from XO, Kitty, and who is queer herself. While the dialogue and plot don’t allude to Zelma’s queerness explicitly, it’s still pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. For one, a shirt that says “you’re too good for him,” which isn’t necessarily queer but isn’t NOT, and the inarguable proof: a shirt that says “I <3 BX” where the heart has a rainbow. Plus, of course, Regan herself has confirmed it in an interview, saying that Zelma is “too cool not to be” queer. She adds, “if I’m playing the character, there’s something they’re seeing that’s a little queer in the character. That’s why they hired me, you know?”

There were hints within Ironheart that this might not be the last we see of Zelma, so here’s hoping we get more witchy queerness in the MCU years to come.

Double, Double, Let More News Bubble

+ Chappell Roan let her hair down for a photo shoot in NYC that has fans theorizing

+ Rachel Zegler added a little nod to Pride in her Evita performance last week

+ Sabrina Carpenter flirted with Ayo Edebiri at her concert

+ The Morning Show has released its season four teaser

+ In this week’s edition of “everything I’ve learned about JoJo Siwa has been against my will”: she is NOT pregnant, despite the rumors but she HAS butchered covered the Kim Carnes song Bette Davis Eyes and for some reason people think her transformation from her rainbow mullet (wig) to trad wife chic is something “no one” has done before

+ Chely Wright reflects on what has and hasn’t changed for queer artists in the 15 years since she came out

+ GALECA has announced their Dorian Award winners for this year’s TV season, where Hacks took home a whopping six wins

+ Survivor Star Parvati Shallow talks about queerness changing the way she saw herself in her new memoir Nice Girls Don’t Win

+ Queer Eye‘s 10th season on Netflix will be its last

+ And last but certainly not least, I leave you with a queer history of The Muppets

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