The upcoming Avengers: Doomsday is shaping up to be a major turning-point in the Marvel Studios’ grand multiverse strategy and at its core is the debut of Fantastic Four in the MCU, as introduced in “First Steps”. Their appearance is officially confirmed for Doomsday, and the narrative links between the two films are being teased in ever more concrete ways.
The Bridge: First Steps → Doomsday
In First Steps (released July 25 2025), the Fantastic Four are introduced in a 1960s-inspired alternate universe, facing off against cosmic threats like Galactus and his herald Silver Surfer. But the film doesn’t end purely as a standalone origin: it plants seeds for bigger events. A mid-credits scene teases a cloaked figure presumably Doctor Victor Von Doom (Doctor Doom) showing interest in Richards' son, Franklin Richards.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed that “all those characters” from First Steps will appear in Doomsday. In other words: First Steps isn’t just an isolated story, it’s a narrative foundation for Doomsday.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed that “all those characters” from First Steps will appear in Doomsday. In other words: First Steps isn’t just an isolated story, it’s a narrative foundation for Doomsday.
Why the Fantastic Four matter in Doomsday
There are several reasons why the Fantastic Four are not just a cameo in Doomsday, but key players:
- Doom’s personal rivalry with them: Doctor Doom is historically the Fantastic Four’s arch-enemy in the comics, particularly Reed Richards. This personal connection gives Doomsday a clear villain-hero relationship to explore.
- Multiversal stakes: The Fantastic Four in First Steps come from an alternate reality/universe. The fact that they will appear in Doomsday suggests a collision of worlds (or universes) is at play.
- Scale & ensemble: Doomsday is expected to bring together the Avengers, the X-Men, the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four , essentially many corners of the MCU. The Fantastic Four provide a cosmic/alternate-universe element that broadens the terrain beyond Earth.
What we can reasonably expect in Doomsday:
Putting together what we know and what’s likely, here are some working expectations:
- The Fantastic Four will “arrive” in the main MCU timeline (Earth-616) from their alternate reality. This might be due to a multiversal incursion or a pursuit of Doom.
- Doom will leverage Franklin Richards’s powers to engineer a reality-reshaping event possibly creating a “Battleworld”-style merged universe (echoing the comics) in which Doom becomes supreme.
- The Fantastic Four team with the Avengers (and possibly the X-Men, Thunderbolts) to stop Doom’s machinations. Reed Richards may not lead the Avengers, but his scientific genius and cosmic experience will make him pivotal.
- The tonal shift: First Steps gives the Fantastic Four a self-contained story with a retro-futuristic aesthetic; Doomsday will expand that into the larger universe and tie in multiple teams and threats ramping up to something epic in scale.
Introducing the Fantastic Four this way provides a few benefits for Marvel:
- It gives the Fantastic Four their proper grand entrance in the MCU, rather than a minor cameo. By making them key to Doomsday the studio elevates their importance.
- It allows Marvel to pivot from the Kang-centric narrative to a Doom-based multiversal threat — which many comic fans argue is more fitting given Doom’s status as one of Marvel’s greatest villains.
- It creates a natural bridge: First Steps introduces new characters and new universes, Doomsday brings them into the main MCU and cross-team dynamics — one film sets up, the next pays off.
- It expands the scale: Bringing in the Fantastic Four’s alternate-universe story alongside the Avengers (and likely X-Men, etc) raises the stakes dramatically for what is essentially the next multiverse saga.
The confirmation of the Fantastic Four for Avengers: Doomsday is much more than a casting announcement, it signals a major narrative shift. If everything lines up, we’re looking not just at another Avengers film, but at a pivot point where the MCU’s multiverse saga truly enters its next chapter.
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