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Thunderbolts* Credits Scene: How It Connects to Avengers: Doomsday

The final Thunderbolts* credits scene points toward Avengers: Doomsday with a spacecraft marked “4.” Here’s what the reveal, production comments and later trailer reporting establish.
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Spoilers for Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and reported Avengers: Doomsday trailer material. The final Thunderbolts* credits scene ends with the New Avengers spotting an extradimensional spacecraft marked with a large “4”—a visual reference to the Fantastic Four. Jake Schreier said the Russo brothers filmed the scene during Avengers: Doomsday production. A July 2026 report on the first Doomsday trailer adds that the Fantastic Four and Thor are aboard the ship. The scene establishes a crossover link, but it does not explain the ship’s route or the full story behind its arrival.

What happens in the two Thunderbolts* credits scenes?

The film has a mid-credits scene and a separate scene after the full credits. They serve different purposes: the first is a brief team-branding gag; the second introduces a crossover mystery.

Mid-credits: Red Guardian spots the team’s name

Red Guardian notices “New Avengers” branding on a cereal box. It is a light moment built around the team’s emerging public identity. The Los Angeles Times’ May 2, 2025 account distinguishes this scene from the later spacecraft reveal.

After the full credits: a ship arrives

The final scene takes place 14 months after the main story. The New Avengers discuss the team’s status and the dispute over their use of the Avengers name. Sam Wilson objects to the name, and Yelena describes a threat of legal action. The scene then shifts to an alert about a spacecraft approaching; as it rotates, a prominent “4” becomes visible. Contemporary reporting identified the marking as the Fantastic Four’s logo and the vessel as their ship.

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How does the scene connect to Avengers: Doomsday?

The connection rests on three distinct pieces of evidence. Keeping them separate helps distinguish what the scene shows from what production comments and later reporting add.

  1. The image in the scene: The New Avengers see a spacecraft bearing the Fantastic Four’s “4” marking. The Los Angeles Times identified it as the team’s ship and placed the scene in the MCU’s Earth-616 setting.
  2. The production link: Director Jake Schreier said the Russo brothers filmed the stinger during Avengers: Doomsday production, and that its details came together late. This connects the scene’s production to the next film; it does not establish that the theatrical scene will appear unchanged in the finished feature. ComicBook.com reported Schreier’s comments on May 6, 2025.
  3. The later trailer report: In July 2026, ComicBook.com reported that the first Doomsday trailer confirms the Fantastic Four and Thor are aboard the Excelsior. That report clarifies who is on the ship, but it does not establish every event that follows. The report was published July 20, 2026.

Marvel’s July 25, 2025 cast announcement also confirmed that the Fantastic Four would return in Doomsday alongside Avengers and X-Men characters. That supports the broader crossover, but it does not explain how the ship reaches Earth-616.

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Why doesn’t The Fantastic Four: First Steps pick up the scene?

The apparent gap reflects how the films were developed, not evidence that First Steps contradicts the stinger. First Steps is set on Earth-828, and its own post-credits material points toward Doctor Doom. The Thunderbolts* stinger, by contrast, points toward the Fantastic Four’s arrival in the MCU’s Earth-616 setting.

Director Matt Shakman said the Thunderbolts* end-credits scene was created relatively late in his process, after he had been working on the First Steps script. He described the production handoff as a relay race, with the baton passing to the Russo brothers. ComicBook.com reported Shakman’s explanation on July 29, 2025. The Los Angeles Times’ July 24, 2025 explainer discusses the film’s Earth-828 setting and its own post-credits setup.

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“No, no, no, because the Thunderbolts* end credit scene was also created, you know, relatively late in my process too, so that was not something that I was familiar with because it hadn’t been created at the time that I was working on my script, you know?”

— Matt Shakman, director of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as quoted by ComicBook.com from CinemaBlend.

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What the scene confirms—and what it leaves open

Point What the available evidence supports
What is shown The New Avengers see a spacecraft marked with a “4,” identified by the Los Angeles Times as the Fantastic Four’s ship.
Production connection Schreier said the Russo brothers filmed the scene during Doomsday production; this alone does not prove the scene will be used unchanged in the feature.
Who is aboard A July 20, 2026 ComicBook.com report on the first Doomsday trailer says the Fantastic Four and Thor are aboard the Excelsior.
Why the ship arrives, or how it travels between worlds Not established by the cited scene and reporting.
How the Avengers-name dispute plays out Not established by the cited scene and reporting.

The ship’s arrival is a clear bridge to the crossover, but theories about incursions, Doctor Doom’s role in the ship’s journey, or a later team conflict should not be treated as confirmed plot. The available evidence does not answer those questions.

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