Marvel Studios loves its Easter eggs and post-credits scenes. Some of those paid off spectacularly, like Thanos in the original Avengers. Others, like everything teased in Eternals, are still waiting on a shelf five years later. But other times, they play the long game. Such as how Marvel teased the Leader in The Incredible Hulk in 2008, only for him to finally arrive in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World. And now, on the upcoming VisionQuest series, it looks like Marvel may finally be paying off another ancient Easter egg, and introducing Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, who first appeared (sort of) in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
A Human Torch Easter Egg Appeared at the Stark Expo in Captain America: The First Avenger
In the early scenes of Captain America: The First Avenger, we see pre-Cap Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his best friend Bucky (Sebastian Stan) go to the Stark Expo in 1942. This is shortly before Bucky ships off to war. Among the futuristic tech Howard Stark was showing off at his expo, we see a glass tube with a blonde man in a red costume. Above the tube, it reads “Dr. Phineas Horton Presents: The Synthetic Man.” This is the Human Torch, Marvel Comics’ first superhero. Created by Carl Burgos, he first appeared in Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, along with Namor the Sub-Mariner. It’s just a fun Easter egg for comic book fans, but it confirmed that the WWII-era hero existed in the MCU. Then, for 15 years, we heard nothing.
The Human Torch’s Comic Book Origins Go Back to 1939
In the comics, Dr. Phineas Horton was a brilliant scientist working out of Brooklyn. He learned under Victor Timely, who Loki fans might remember as the time-traveler He Who Remains/Kang. His artificial man contained everything a human possessed, using synthetic cells cultivated in a lab to recreate internal organs, blood, everything. So he was technically an android, but more in the Blade Runner sense, rather than an android in the Data from Star Trek sense.
However, when Horton revealed his synthetic man to the world, he came with a unique quirk. His entire skin lit on first upon contact with oxygen. At first branded a freak, he eventually got his flame powers under control and became a superhero. He took on the name Jim Hammond, and became an NYC police detective. And as the heroic Human Torch, he fought Namor in the very first Marvel character crossover. He received his own Human Torch series, along with a kid partner named Toro. He fought the Nazis in World War II alongside Captain America and Namor. In fact, Marvel eventually revealed that it was the Human Torch who killed Hitler in his bunker, burning him to death! (High five, Jim.)
The Human Torch Becomes The Vision (Or Does He?)
As the 1940s wrapped up, superheroes lost their popularity. The Human Torch, who headlined his own series, was shelved and mostly forgotten about for years. When Marvel launched The Fantastic Four in 1961, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby gave Johnny Storm the Human Torch name and powers. But eventually, Marvel remembered the original Torch that launched a publishing line. After a brief reintroduction in 1966, Marvel explained that the evil AI Ultron used Torch’s body to construct the android Avenger, the Vision. Torch’s mind and memory were wiped, and the Vision was a different entity using Hammond’s body.
But eventually, in the 1980s, that retcon itself became retconned. Marvel revealed that Ultron constructed Vision from the spare parts of the Human Torch, and was a distinct and separate being. That allowed the original Human Torch to return to the Marvel Universe, where he became an Avenger. And he’s more or less stuck around ever since. Even if his popularity as the Human Torch has long been eclipsed by Johnny Storm. But as Marvel Comics’ first superhero, he retains significant importance to the Marvel universe overall.
The Human Torch Will Finally Appear in VisionQuest on Disney+
Although not officially confirmed, it seems obvious now that the Human Torch will appear in VisionQuest. At a booth at D23, Marvel showed production art of a man standing in a room lit on fire. And he doesn’t seem to be contorting in pain. Then, the trailer for VisionQuest briefly showed a man igniting, further confirming that we’re about to see that Human Torch Easter egg from The First Avenger pay off at last. Good things come to those who wait, as the saying goes.
Nerdist’s Take: The Original Human Torch Confirms Cap Was Not the Only Enhanced Person Operating During WWII in the MCU
Certainly, some things will be different in the MCU. It’s clear from Age of Ultron that Vision was not made using Hammond’s inert body. But clearly, whatever Dr. Horton created back in 1942 inspired Ultron, and worked as a blueprint for Vision. Maybe we only see the Torch in flashbacks, or maybe his programming exists inside Vision’s mind. So far, we have no idea who Marvel has cast as the Human Torch, so it’s possible it’s a name actor. Did this version of the Torch work alongside Captain America in WWII, as he did in the comics? We’re excited to find out. And we’re glad Marvel’s first superhero has finally arrived in the MCU at last.
VisionQuest premieres on Disney+ on October 14.