The Marvels Easter Egg Has a Weird Tie to the Fantastic Four

The Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise has ebbed and flowed in some fascinating ways, bringing a number of major characters into its orbit. The latest example of that is The Marvels, a new film that continues the narrative of Captain Marvel and a number of the saga’s Disney+ series. As The Marvels dealt with Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), it also wove in a number of Marvel Comics Easter eggs — including one tied to Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Obviously, spoilers for The Marvels lurk below! Only look if you want to know!

Part of the film sees The Marvels working to save Skrull refugees on the cosmic planet of Tarnax, which Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) wants to destroy in order to siphon its atmosphere over to the Kree homeworld of Hala. Fantastic Four readers will recognize Tarnax — or more specifically, Tarnax IV — as it played a role in the initial adventures of Marvel’s First Family. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Tarnax first appeared in 1963’s Fantastic Four #18. During that issue’s storyline, the team faces off against Super-Skrull (who makes his first appearance in the story) and the evil emperor Dorrek VII. The planet then appeared in Marvel Comics multiple times over, as heroes such as Mar-Vell / Captain Marvel and The Illuminati would be sucked into the planet’s evil experiments.

What Is the New Fantastic Four Movie About?

Plot details, as well as any confirmed cast members, have not been revealed for Marvel’s new Fantastic Four movie. The film will be directed by WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman, who has teased that the way the Fantastic Four script approaches its plot — and the influences of its Marvel Comics source material — appealed to him.

“It’s different in so many ways,” Shakman explained. “I wish I could be specific. I wish I could say more. But we are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material. I wish I could say more. I would love to, but I can’t. But I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before.”

“We have been nonstop,” Shakman said of the pre-production work on the film. “Despite the strikes, yes, we’ve been working with the effects and with production design and building our world, and that’s been incredibly exciting. You know, how do you translate those skills into live-action in dynamic ways? Because some things that work beautifully in John Byrne and Jack Kirby are a little tougher when you’re filming them. How do you make sure that things are exciting but also grounded in a scientific thing, which is also part of the Fantastic Four that I love? There’s some stuff I’m super excited about. I can’t say too much, you know?”

What Is The Marvels About?

In The Marvels, which arrived in theaters on November 10th, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as “The Marvels.” The Marvels will also see the franchise returns of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, and Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan. New cast members include Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-joon, and Shamier Anderson. Produced by Marvel Studios, The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta with a script from DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.

What do you think of The Marvels including Tarnax? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below