Haven’t seen The Fantastic Four: First Steps yet and want to avoid spoilers? Leave this tab open while you head to the theater.
Just as Thunderbolts* brought Marvel’s first family into the MCU with an end-credits scene, The Fantastic Four: First Steps finished with its own big introduction. The movie did exactly what many expected/hoped. It teased the arrival of the franchise’s next supervillain, Doctor Doom. But despite his ominous arrival, there’s still so little we know about him. Instead of answers The Fantastic Four: First Steps raised lots of important questions for Avengers: Doomsday. These are the biggest.
Why Was Latveria’s Seat Empty at the Future Foundation?
During Sue’s speech to the Future Foundation, Earth-828’s United Nations equivalent, one nation’s seat was noticeably empty. Latveria, Doctor Doom’s home country where he rules, did not have a representative in attendance. Why wasn’t its ambassador there? Who is Latveria’s ambassador? Is it Doom himself?
Even more important is the question of why The Fantastic Four: First Steps showed us that vacant chair. Was it merely to tease Doom’s appearance at the end of the movie? To remind us he’s coming in Avengers: Doomsday? Or was it a far bigger deal than that? Is there significant meaning to both Latveria existing in the Fantastic Four’s dimension and to that empty chair? That might depend on the obvious question the film left us with.
What Dimension Is the MCU’s Doctor Doom Actually From?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps established that Latveria exists on Earth-828. That doesn’t mean the version of Doctor Doom seen at the end of the film* is from that dimension, though. Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards said parallel worlds exist. Galactus was older than that universe itself because he wasn’t from that dimension. And this film is take place in a well-established multiverse. So while he might very well hail from 828, there’s no guarantee the hooded figure we saw playing with Franklin Richards is actually from there.
If the end-credits Doom is from another world we need to know which dimension he calls home, why and how he came to Earth-828, and how he learned about Franklin’s incredible cosmic power.
*We technically don’t know if the hooded Doom is Robert Downey, Jr.’s character and not a Variant since we didn’t see his face. However, it would be shocking if it’s not. There’s simply not enough time for the MCU to pull a switcheroo. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters December 2026. The only other MCU movie premiering before that is Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Peter Parker’s next entry was originally supposed to come out after Doomsday. Its story is almost certainly going to have little to no connection with Doom, all but guaranteeing it was Downey, Jr. Especially when the Russo brothers actually directed that scene.
If Doom Lives on Earth-828, Where Was He During the Events of the Film?
We covered all the questions raised by the possibility Downey Doom is not from Earth-828. But what if that is his home world? What if he’s from the same dimension as the Fantastic Four and Franklin Richards? That raises a pretty obvious question with huge implications: where the hell was he during First Steps? A genius who loves his home nation and its people was sitting on the sidelines while an interdimensional being threatened to eat the whole planet? Victor von Doom wasn’t interested in helping save his world? He was okay with that?
It doesn’t make sense. So was he in a different dimension? On another planet? Trapped somewhere? Even then, why did it take him four years to come looking for Franklin? Does that indicate he only just learned about the boy’s powers? That Doom needed time to build something before trying to take the child? We have a good idea why Doom wants Franklin (it involves incursions and ultimate power), but we don’t know why Doom came for the kid when he did.
What Exactly will Bring the Fantastic Four to Earth-616?
The Fantastic Four arrived on Earth-616 in Thunderbolts*. We thought we might learn why in First Steps, but the movie left us guessing. Are they chasing after Franklin because Doom kidnapped him? If so, why did Doom take him to Earth-616? Considering he’ll be a Tony Stark Variant, we know that dimension can’t be his home world.
Or is the Fantastic Four fleeing to another dimension to get away from Doom? Are they running to keep Franklin safe? If they are we still don’t know why they’d pick Earth-616 as a haven. Are they looking for help from someone specific? Is it even possible Franklin himself chose that parallel world?
Did Galactus’ Appearance and/or Disappearance Influence Doom’s Plan?
Galactus wanted Franklin and his powers so it would free Galactus of his insatiable hunger. But did his arrival reveal something to Victor von Doom? Did Galactus arrival reveal the danger of the multiverse, since Galactus was from another dimension? Or did Galactus’ quest to obtain Franklin show Doom how powerful the child is and what he’s capable of?
Or was it actually the Fantastic Four’s victory that motivated Doom to action? They sent a powerful creature deep into the vastness of space without a way to get back. Did that make the power hungry Doom realize he’ll always be in danger so long as the Fantastic Four is around?
Despite his faceless debut, there’s still so much we don’t know about Robert Downey Jr’s. Doctor Doom. From where he’s from and where he was, to why he showed up when he did and how the Fantastic Four responded to his arrival. But we do know one very important thing: he’s about to be every world’s problem.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He very much supported Sue Storm not turning her child over to a big cosmic monster thank you very much. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.