Doctor Strange 2 Originally Featured A Post-Credits Scene That Teased The Fantastic Four

Scripts go through so many changes during the filmmaking process, but one aspect of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" that was there from the very beginning is the inclusion of Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. Undeniably a hero that fans had been eagerly anticipating, the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave viewers their first taste of the character in the Sam Raimi movie, with John Krasinski in the part. However, it took only moments for him to be annihilated by Scarlet Witch.

While some theorized the actor would reprise the role in the upcoming Fantastic Four film thanks to some multiversal math, it's far more likely that moment was meant to kill off the popular fan-cast rather than cement it. Scribe Michael Waldron always hoped Reed would appear in the film, though initially, the cameo was in a completely different context. He had actually written the Fantastic Four character into a post-credits scene in an earlier draft of the script.

The plan wasn't always to promptly kill off Reed Richards in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but rather hint at Marvel's First Family for a subsequent film. Waldron is a huge fan of the Fantastic Four patriarch and wanted to find a way to get him into the movie even if it was just for a post-credits scene. He told Empire in an issue that will hit stands September 1:

"I always wanted Reed Richards in this thing. In my very first draft, I wrote a tag just for the hell of it, of the events of the movie being recorded and reviewed by somebody in the Baxter Building, and a stretchy hand coming into frame to run it back. Reed is probably my favorite Marvel comics character, so I was always gunning to get him in here somewhere."

Considering Waldron's feelings about Mister Fantastic, it must've been particularly fun to use him with such prominence in the film. The death of the Illuminati is definitely the movie's most shocking sequence. To introduce all these characters viewers had been waiting to see only to have Wanda kill them off one by one was something no one saw coming. The scene certainly left fans divided, and though it was undeniably exciting, I do wish the film didn't have to be so cruel to Scarlet Witch to make it happen.

Marvel's First Family may be late to the party, but their debut is inevitable. The MCU continues to expand, pulling in more and more A-list actors to portray what are, at this point, largely C-list comic characters. This is not a knock on these less popular heroes — Moon Knight for life — especially considering the fact that Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy were hardly household names before the MCU turned them into superstars.

The point being: Marvel is pulling deep from those back issue bins because it already used the big guns. However, there are still those characters brought back under the company's umbrella by the Disney/Fox deal, namely, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Between introducing mutants into the already well-established MCU and existing in the long shadow cast by certain unforgettable performances in the Fox films, debuting Marvel's Marvelous Mutants will be no easy feat.

The Fantastic Four, on the other hand, are far simpler to bring into the fold. With three bad movies already (not to mention the unreleased one) and tons of comic stories left untold, Marvel's First Family obviously deserves a proper adaptation. "WandaVision" director Matt Shakman has been tapped to direct, but a cast has yet to be announced.

We'll have to wait and see who will play Reed Richards when the Fantastic Four finally does show up in the MCU. Marvel has shown a particular gift for casting these movies, so it's pretty easy to trust they'll find the right actors for the job. Personally, I can't wait to see my own favorite FF character, Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman.