Fantastic Four: First Steps is finally in theaters, bringing the First Family to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, all roads lead to Avengers: Doomsday, the next big crossover event in Marvel’s uneven but never-ending comic book movie saga. Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the series to play Doctor Doom, the next big bad in the MCU, historically associated with the Fantastic Four. But he’s not the villain of First Steps, so is he in the film? Do you want to know? I mean, you’re here, so I assume you’re cool with spoilers, right? Well, in case you somehow stumbled upon this article, clicked on it, are scrolling through it with reckless abandon, but would somehow be upset to know the answer, I’m putting a bunch of text here that will make it harder to accidentally scroll too far and see it. I might even throw a spoiler tag and a trailer embed for good measure.
Are they gone? All right, cool.
So yes, Doctor Doom does appear in First Steps. In the mid-credits scene, we jump four years into the future and see Sue Storm and her son Franklin reading together in their home in the Baxter Building. She leaves him on the couch for a moment to find another book, and when she comes back, she senses something is off and prepares to use her force field powers on a possible intruder. Then, when she returns to the living room, she finds Franklin chatting with a robed figure. We don’t see this person’s face, but we do see Doom’s iconic metal mask in his hand as he leans down to greet the boy. It’s unlikely that this was actually Downey Jr., as I can’t imagine Marvel was about to pay that man for a cameo in a film and not show his face, but either way, Doom has finally made his grand entrance to the MCU alongside his arch-nemeses.
What’s his deal, though? We have no idea. Doom doesn’t say a word, but is clearly interested in Franklin. As is shown throughout the film, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman’s son is some kind of powerful being. Galactus wanted him to usurp his role as a planet-eating god, and the little guy was able to bring his mother back from the dead after she used up all her strength trying to save him from the giant. So Doctor Doom may have plans of his own for a character of such power.
We’ll find out more in Doomsday, but whatever is happening in the Fantastic Four’s corner of the multiverse has forced the heroes to seek refuge in the main MCU timeline, as shown in the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene. After watching the series flounder, trying to make up for all the plans it had to change by pivoting away from Kang following Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles, it’s nice to feel like the movies are going somewhere again. We have one more pit stop to make before the grand event, as the next movie is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is coming to theaters on July 31, 2026.
