The Fantastic Four: First Steps — 4 Coolest Things About Earth-828
By Dan Bibby
November 17th, 2025
Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Fantastic Four: First Steps!
2025's The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in a Marvel universe that has never before been seen onscreen, making the movie especially exciting. While the story's title characters are familiar to the audience after decades of comic book runs and various cinematic reboots, the reality in which First Steps unfolds feels incredibly original when compared to the rest of the MCU's settings.
There's a very good reason for Earth-828's sense of freshness. In short, it IS fresh. While it borrows heavily from the source material, First Steps is an awesome reworking of what should feel incredibly well-trodden by now. This corner of the MCU has found new ways to inject life into a franchise that has been criticized for a while, especially when it comes to every installment feeling the same.
There's a very good reason for Earth-828's sense of freshness. In short, it IS fresh. While it borrows heavily from the source material, First Steps is an awesome reworking of what should feel incredibly well-trodden by now. This corner of the MCU has found new ways to inject life into a franchise that has been criticized for a while, especially when it comes to every installment feeling the same.
4. Earth-828 Honors The Fantastic Four's 1960s Origin (But With A Twist)
First Steps is the first successful attempt to make a live-action Fantastic Four movie that's era-appropriate to the source material. 2005's Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, pulled the story into the mid-2000s. Similarly, the 2015 reboot also refused to be set anywhere near the year of the Fantastic Four's 1961 comic book debut. While the 2000s efforts do have something of a cult fan base, the 2015 movie was rightfully bashed by fans and critics alike.
Thankfully, Disney got it right with Fantastic Four after Fox got it so very wrong for too many years. First Steps is set in the 1960s, and it comes with all the retro-looking tech and other cultural landmarks that are commonly associated with the era. The thing that makes it especially quirky is that the original comics saw the characters using tech that was just generally deemed mega-advanced at the time. While the same tech still comes across as incredibly sci-fi in 2025, setting First Steps so long ago places the movie into a retro-futuristic genre sort of by accident.
As another heartwarming nod to the comics, Earth-828 is named in honor of Jack Kirby, if only indirectly. Kirby co-created The Fantastic Four alongside Stan Lee, so the MCU gave Earth-828 its designation by taking Kirby's birthday (August 28th) and formatting it as a string of three digits. He passed away in 1994. While this version of Earth could have been named after Stan Lee, I think everyone would agree there are already plenty of references to the other late Marvel legend in the MCU.
Thankfully, Disney got it right with Fantastic Four after Fox got it so very wrong for too many years. First Steps is set in the 1960s, and it comes with all the retro-looking tech and other cultural landmarks that are commonly associated with the era. The thing that makes it especially quirky is that the original comics saw the characters using tech that was just generally deemed mega-advanced at the time. While the same tech still comes across as incredibly sci-fi in 2025, setting First Steps so long ago places the movie into a retro-futuristic genre sort of by accident.
As another heartwarming nod to the comics, Earth-828 is named in honor of Jack Kirby, if only indirectly. Kirby co-created The Fantastic Four alongside Stan Lee, so the MCU gave Earth-828 its designation by taking Kirby's birthday (August 28th) and formatting it as a string of three digits. He passed away in 1994. While this version of Earth could have been named after Stan Lee, I think everyone would agree there are already plenty of references to the other late Marvel legend in the MCU.
3. The Fantastic Four Are The Only Superheroes On Earth-828
Looking at the wider superhero movie genre as a whole, the decision to make Earth-828 a world with just four protectors might not seem all that strange. For instance, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy only had Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker. Similarly, the X-Men movies have no characters who fall outside the source material's immediate circle, despite their constant interactions with other Marvel figures in the comics.
However, First Steps is an MCU movie, and the MCU's main storyline primarily unfolds on Earth-199999 — although it's also been referred to as Earth-616 within the MCU itself. As such, it's arguably quite surprising that Disney didn't opt to introduce the new Fantastic Four cast during a reboot set on Earth-199999. Doing so would have allowed for many interactions with franchise stars like Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner.
Instead, First Steps features no other superheroes at all. The fact that no one else shows up to help when Galactus (Ralph Ineson) arrives all but proves that there aren't any other superpowered beings on Earth-828. I love this choice, as it allows the new versions of the iconic characters to shine in their own right. If Earth-828 had an Iron Man variant or a new iteration of Captain America show up, the focus would have shifted.
However, First Steps is an MCU movie, and the MCU's main storyline primarily unfolds on Earth-199999 — although it's also been referred to as Earth-616 within the MCU itself. As such, it's arguably quite surprising that Disney didn't opt to introduce the new Fantastic Four cast during a reboot set on Earth-199999. Doing so would have allowed for many interactions with franchise stars like Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner.
Instead, First Steps features no other superheroes at all. The fact that no one else shows up to help when Galactus (Ralph Ineson) arrives all but proves that there aren't any other superpowered beings on Earth-828. I love this choice, as it allows the new versions of the iconic characters to shine in their own right. If Earth-828 had an Iron Man variant or a new iteration of Captain America show up, the focus would have shifted.
2. Earth-828 Is A Part Of The MCU By Design (Instead Of Being An Afterthought)
While Earth-828 sits within a self-contained universe, the MCU's multiverse saga has already proven that every Marvel reality is part of the same continuity. This definitely includes all the Marvel movies and TV shows, even from before the MCU was officially a thing, but the implication is that all comic books, video games, podcasts, and any other media set in any version of a Marvel reality exist as part of a shared multiverse.
This opens up a whole bunch of crossover opportunities, some of which have already been explored onscreen in movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, and 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine. Both projects brought back pre-MCU Marvel stars like James Garfield's Spider-Man and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine...but that was never part of the original blueprint when those actors made their respective debuts as their superhero characters in other realities years earlier.
Fantastic Four has clearly seen the promise of these occurrences, though. Variants of characters jumping through branches of the multiverse is still one of the coolest things the MCU has shown so far, even if most of it has resulted as part of a once-unplanned comeback for various figures. When Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards and company invariably show up on Earth-828, it will feel like a far more organic version of a quirk we've already seen play out. Earth-828 won't be welcomed into the MCU as part of a later storyline — it was created to belong there.
This opens up a whole bunch of crossover opportunities, some of which have already been explored onscreen in movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, and 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine. Both projects brought back pre-MCU Marvel stars like James Garfield's Spider-Man and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine...but that was never part of the original blueprint when those actors made their respective debuts as their superhero characters in other realities years earlier.
Fantastic Four has clearly seen the promise of these occurrences, though. Variants of characters jumping through branches of the multiverse is still one of the coolest things the MCU has shown so far, even if most of it has resulted as part of a once-unplanned comeback for various figures. When Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards and company invariably show up on Earth-828, it will feel like a far more organic version of a quirk we've already seen play out. Earth-828 won't be welcomed into the MCU as part of a later storyline — it was created to belong there.
1. After Avengers: Secret Wars, Earth-828 Gives The MCU Its Clearest Path Forward
I've really enjoyed the MCU's multiverse saga, but I'm more than aware that the franchise has been heavily criticized by fans since 2019's Avengers: Endgame served as a cinematic finale that felt impossible to top. Even I will admit that although there have been some great moments since Endgame, the larger storyline has felt pretty improvisational compared to the previous arc that saw the Avengers taking on Thanos (Josh Brolin).
There hasn't been an Avengers movie since 2019, but there are two more on the way, the second of which is called Avengers: Secret Wars, and is scheduled for a 2017 cinematic release. MCU head honcho Kevin Feige has spoken about his plan to "reset" the franchise after Secret Wars, announcing a "single timeline" will be reestablished rather than having several active universes at once.
The post-Secret Wars MCU could easily just be a return to business as usual on Earth-199999, but with many already growing weary of what could be described as an extended Endgame epilogue, I think it would make more sense to start focusing more on Earth-828 — if not entirely.
Just as Earth-199999 began with only Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man and gradually grew its superhero population, Earth-828 could easily do the same with the Fantastic Four serving as the catalysts. With so many Marvel icons beginning as 1960s comic book characters, it would make sense for them to start to show up in other Earth-828 stories that take place after The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
There hasn't been an Avengers movie since 2019, but there are two more on the way, the second of which is called Avengers: Secret Wars, and is scheduled for a 2017 cinematic release. MCU head honcho Kevin Feige has spoken about his plan to "reset" the franchise after Secret Wars, announcing a "single timeline" will be reestablished rather than having several active universes at once.
The post-Secret Wars MCU could easily just be a return to business as usual on Earth-199999, but with many already growing weary of what could be described as an extended Endgame epilogue, I think it would make more sense to start focusing more on Earth-828 — if not entirely.
Just as Earth-199999 began with only Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man and gradually grew its superhero population, Earth-828 could easily do the same with the Fantastic Four serving as the catalysts. With so many Marvel icons beginning as 1960s comic book characters, it would make sense for them to start to show up in other Earth-828 stories that take place after The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
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