[SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION!]
The concept of post-credits scenes may predate the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but there’s no denying Marvel Studios’ influence on their rise to modern popularity. Now a highly anticipated element of films, especially for comic book adaptations, they have become the standard practice to tease future instalments, build anticipation, and bring new characters into a shared continuity.
Not every post-credits scene will live up to expectations, however, owing to various reasons like an underwhelming or shoehorned execution, a lack of significance, and more. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is quite the opposite, with its mid-credits scene, and not the post-credits, turning a longtime request into reality.
Taking place after a four-year timeskip, the movie’s closing moments show Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm / Invisible Woman reading to her and Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic’s young son, Franklin, who appears disinterested in “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” – a cheeky nod to Galactus’ hunger. The superheroine then sets off to find another book and makes her way back after grabbing it from the kitchen, only to sense a foreign presence in the vicinity.
Wary, she activates a force field with her hands and steps into the living room, revealing a green hooded figure that Franklin is reaching out to. As the camera closes in on the hooded figure, whose voice we never hear speak and a face we never see, sharp-eyes audiences cap spot the stranger holding on to an unmistakable silver mask in one hand, which can only mean one thing – the highly anticipated arrival of Doctor Doom.
Is his arrival expected? Well, audiences would notice at least two instances of the word Latveria in the film, used to label two empty tables. Victor Von Doom is the leader of that small country and the payoff of this comes at the end of the film.
The end title card confirms this collision of worlds, with the phrase, “The Fantastic Four will return in Avengers Doomsday” flashing on the screen. It also lends more context to a previous comment from director Matt Shakman (WandaVision), who revealed in his interview with ComicBook that Joe and Anthony Russo – the brothers behind four MCU films, including Avengers: Civil War and Endgame – were involved in the production of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
In contrast, the post-credits scene is nowhere near as exciting. An animated introduction to the in-world cartoon introduced in the film, it acts as a lighthearted gag centred on the animated versions of Marvel’s first family, complete with Ben Grimm / The Thing’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear) signature catchphrase: “It’s clobberin’ time!”. It’s fun but not the most useful in terms of narrative significance.
Who is Doctor Doom?
The archenemy of the titular quartet, Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom will make his MCU debut in Avengers: Doomsday, with Iron Man alumnus Robert Downey Jr. stepping into the role. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he was first introduced in 1962’s The Fantastic Four #5 as the monarch of the fictional country of Latveria, who uses his mastery of both science and sorcery to achieve his goal of bringing order to humanity through world domination.
The other half of his motivations involves old college rival Mister Fantastic, whom he blames for his disfigurement. In the comics, the supervillain is regarded as one of the smartest and most dangerous threats, having stolen the abilities of cosmic beings such as the Silver Surfer. Additionally, his genius-level intellect aids in the development of various high-tech weapons, gadgets, and equipment to be used in his schemes of conquest. At the very least, his high tech armour is as superior, if not more so, than that of Iron Man.
Specific to Franklin, Doctor Doom has an interesting bit of history relating to the character. In the comics, the big bad is the godfather of Valeria Richards, Franklin’s younger sister.
Here though, it’s likely that he’s aware of Franklin’s burgeoning powers and could potentially want it for himself, thereby setting of the events of the next Avengers movie.
Now that The Fantastic Four are returning in Avengers: Doomsday, Franklin will likely play a bigger role in the overarching story. The source material classifies him as an omega-level mutant, the strongest of all categories, and at one point, even made Galactus his own Herald. There are countless ways in which their dealings can go down, and only time will tell how the Russo brothers intend to incorporate their own flavour into the mix.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now screening in theatres, while Avengers: Doomsday opens on 28 May 2026.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
