Hear Me Out: I Think Fantastic Four's First Trailer Has A Sneaky Captain America Reference (Even If Reed Richards Might Call It A Stretch)

The slate of upcoming Marvel movies looks so much more…well…fantastic now that The Fantastic Four: The First Steps is just a two short seasons away from hitting theaters. The excitement hit fever-pitch heights with the release of the blockbuster’s first trailer and that Galactus sneak peek. There’s a lot to pay attention to, from the alternate 1960s timeline to Ebon Moss-Bacharach’s stellar CGI look as The Thing, and it wouldn’t be a Marvel movie without at least one easter egg to mull over.

In the case of the Fantastic Four’s latest (first) outing, I believe there’s a low-key reference to Steve Rogers’ fate in the decades after the events of the earliest film in the MCU timeline, Captain America: The First Avenger. But tell me, am I making too much of a leap here with this assumption?

I Think This Movie Marquee Could Be A Subtle Nod To Captain Amerca On Ice

In the middle of the trailer, Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm is shown mid-brawl while standing down a battle-torn street. There's something truly horrifying about seeing a giant concrete support split apart like a tree, and I would not want to be standing under it during timber time.

In any case, it's not Sue so much as the theater marquee behind her that caught my eye, as it's advertising a film called "Subzero Intel", which is not an actual movie that was ever produced within real-world Hollywood. And as far as I can tell, it also isn't a direct reference to anything aleady existing within the MCU. So unless this is a sequel to a Mortal Kombat spinoff about its iciest fighter, I'm refocusing my sights on Chris Evans' debut as an Avenger.

Because as everyone reading this no doubt remembers, Captain America saving the day in The First Avenger resulted in him flying the HYDRA bomber Valkyrie into icy waters near Greenland, where he was believed to be dead as he remained frozen and undiscovered for decades. (At least everyone but in-universe filmmaker "Aiden Power.") So if it isn't already clear as hell, I think that the Subzero Intel of the title is talking about Cap and the HYDRA plane.

Though Aiden Power isn't a specific reference to any other Marvel characters, I have zero issues with believing that name is a mini-reference to the Super Soldier Serum, because it's an "aid in power," or "aiding power." Either way, it's a pun I want to put my faith in.

The title could technically also be a sub-reference to the fact that Chris Evans' first big superhero role was as Johnny "Human Torch" Storm in the first two Fantastic Four films that were produced years before the MCU came into existence. Fire and ice, yeah?

Considering this Sue Storm moment appears to be taking place still within the throwback 1960s setting (or even the '70s), this whole idea almost has to fall back on someone in-universe making a movie about Steve Rogers, presumably holding him up as an American hero. Which kind of taps into The Boys' own MCU-parodying multiverse of films. The fact that other MCU movies don't address Avengers-worship in other forms of media, perhaps Subzero Intel was just a one-off.

Check out the full Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer below to see everything else that director Matt Shakman & Co. are bringing to fans this summer.

The Fantastic Four: The First Steps will hit theaters on July 25, 2025. Whether or not it will be part of a double feature alongside new Phase 6 feature Subzero Intel is anyone's guess. But don't forget to check out Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson taking control of the shield for real this time in Julius Onah's Captain America: Brave New World, which is out on February 14, 2025.