In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, several villains from the pages of Marvel Comics are mentioned, but never seen. However, we do finally see them in animated form in the post-credits scene in this Fantastic Four film. Matt Shakman designed these moments to evoke the crude animation from the Saturday morning Fantastic Four cartoon made by Hanna-Barbera, way back in the late ‘60s. (Somehow, these are not on Disney+, but this may be a rights issue. We hope it is rectified soon.)
Fun fact: All but one of these villains appeared in the FF’s first four years, so it matches their MCU timeline. These are the classic Fantastic Four villains who got a post-credits shout-out in cartoon form after the credits rolled.
The Puppet Master (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #8, 1962)
The Puppet Master, whose real name is Phillip Masters (of course) was one of the FF’s earliest villains. He first appeared in 1962’s Fantastic Four #8. He’s a typical mad scientist type, but with a twist. He creates little puppets of his enemies, which he then controls, kind of like sci-fi voodoo dolls. He especially hates the Thing because the monstrous Ben Grimm dared to date (and later marry) his daughter Alicia. He’s been a persistent thorn in the Richards family’s side for sixty years. But since Ben married his daughter, he’s now officially part of the family.
The Red Ghost (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #13, 1963)
This villain nearly made it into the movie itself, played by none other than Oscar-winning actor John Malkovich. In the comics, the Red Ghost was a Soviet scientist who controlled an army of “super apes,” which he sent against the Fantastic Four. Although Matt Shakman cut Malkovich from the final film, they still name-dropped Red Ghost early on in the movie. And Mister Fantastic yeets one of his apes into the river. Hopefully, one day we see his scene in full, even if it’s just a deleted scene on the Blu-ray.
The Mad Thinker (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #15, 1963)
Speaking of mad scientist types, another early FF foe created by Lee and Kirby, the Mad Thinker, first appeared in 1963. He specialized in robots, and pitted his “Awesome Android” against the team. Turns out, the android was less than awesome and the team defeated him soundly. He was even responsible for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four’s first meeting. The Mad Thinker, who wouldn’t receive a real name for some fifty years (it’s Julius, by the way), also created Quasimodo, a living computer. But he also proved no match for Reed Richards’ superior mind. He still pops up occasionally to make trouble for the FF and other Marvel heroes.
Diablo (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #30, 1964)
Diablo is another early Fantastic Four foe who appeared in the second post-credits scene. He is an ancient alchemist from 9th-century Spain. His true name is Esteban Corazón de Ablo. Once again, Stan Lee can’t resist the punny naming conventions. He sold his soul to the demon lord Mephisto (you know, that guy) to lengthen his lifespan. He’s a master of the arcane arts, although not quite on the Doctor Strange level. When the Fantastic Four first encountered him, he resided in a castle in Transylvania, although he has moved around to many locations since. He continues to plague the FF to this day.
The Sentry Sinister (First Appearance: Fantastic Four #64, 1967)
The robot that we see the FF fight in cartoon form may look like one of the mutant-hunting Sentinels from the X-Men, but he’s sort of a knock-off. Worse, he’s a knock-off created by the same two people who created the X-Men’s Sentinels, Lee and Kirby. Hey, they had to come up with a metric ton of new concepts and characters for several titles a month back in the day. They sometimes just went back to the well. Such was the case with the Sentry (not to be confused with the character from Thunderbolts). This Sentry was a robot of Kree origin, who fought the FF and deactivated itself when it lost. So, he’s a Sentinel, just of alien origin.
Content shared from nerdist.com.