The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer includes a shout-out to The Last of Us

The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer is filled with Marvel references, such as Jack Kirby's original artwork of The Human Torch and Westview, although not part of the overall MCU. However, there is one reference in the trailer that no one saw coming: a nod to Pedro Pascal's other popular project, HBO's The Last of Us. This reference may seem meta on the surface, but some believe there might be a deeper significance as well.

In the trailer, a brief moment is visible in which a cinema hall is observable in the background. Since the movie is set in a retro-futuristic 1960s Earth (not the Earth we have seen in the MCU until now), the theater has a marquee announcing the movies it is currently screening. One of the movies is a fictional one named "Attack of the Fungus," a reference to HBO's The Last of Us.

While The Last of Us and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are two very different stories with wildly varying tones, they share actor Pedro Pascal, who ended his run as Joel on HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2, "Through the Valley."

Explaining the The Last of Us easter egg in The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer:

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For the uninitiated, HBO's The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama in which the world is ravaged by a zombie virus, with very few human survivors, including Pedro Pascal's Joel and Bella Ramsey's Ellie. The virus that infects the people in the game and the show has a fungal origin. Therefore, the name "Attack of the Fungus" feels like clever wordplay.

But, if some internet theories are to be believed, this easter egg from The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer has a deeper significance.

How might this easter egg be significant for The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

It is important to note that this is just a speculation, and this theory might not pan out in the movie when The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases in July this year. Based on what we see in this trailer above, Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards may go through a moral dilemma similar to that of Joel Miller in the finale of The Last of Us Season 1.

It is confirmed in this trailer that Sue Storm is pregnant in the latest trailer of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Chances are that the baby she is expecting is Franklin Richards, an omega-level mutant. In the X-Men lore, Omega-level mutants are among the strongest of the mutant kind. Franklin not only possesses reality warping powers but also has the power to create a multiverse.

We know that Galactus is the central antagonist of this movie, played by actor Ralph Ineson. In the comics, Franklin and Galactus are connected, and surprisingly, the two cosmic beings have also been friendly with each other at times. While it is doubtful if Galactus is a friendly force in this movie, he may be sensing Franklin's presence and seeking him for an unknown reason.

While the people of the Earth depicted in The Fantastic Four: First Steps may believe that the Fantastic Four should sacrifice their baby to Galactus for the supposed "greater good" and save everyone, the superhero team, including its leader, would be apprehensive to do so. Thus, Reed Richards might be in a similar position in this movie as Joel Miller in The Last of Us Season 1 finale.