Why Doctor Doom Won’t Be the Villain in ‘Fantastic Four’ and What It Means for Marvel

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In contrast to being the super team’s arch-nemesis, Director Matt Shakman shares his rationale for excluding Doctor Doom from “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” With Marvel’s First Family finally making their long-awaited entrance into the MCU, they’ll be squaring off against none other than Galactus and the Silver Surfer in their initial adventure. Instead, Doctor Doom will serve as the principal antagonist in the upcoming “Avengers” films, “Doomsday” and “Secret Wars.” Given that Doom is slated to be the main adversary of the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga, one might wonder why he wasn’t included in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Shakman discussed the choice of excluding Doctor Doom from the upcoming MCU Fantastic Four film. Shakman explained that since all previous Fantastic Four films heavily focused on Doctor Doom, they wanted to avoid repeating this pattern and instead present a fresh take. As First Steps is bypassing the team’s origin story, they also opted to deviate from the traditional formula and not include the super-powered villainous genius in this film. In other words, Shakman stated that they wanted to introduce something new and different for the Fantastic Four’s debut within the MCU.

While Doom is an interesting character, he tends to dominate the narrative. Previous film adaptations have explored his origin story along with Doom himself. However, in our adaptation, we’re choosing not to delve into either his origin or his story, which gives us the opportunity to view him from a unique, fresh angle.

Back in 1994, I stumbled upon an unseen film version of the Fantastic Four where Joseph Culp portrayed Doctor Doom, serving as the film’s main antagonist. Fast forward to 2005, Julian McMahon donned the Doom armor, becoming a crucial element in shaping the four heroes’ origin story. He was even granted his own powers during the same cosmic event that bestowed superpowers upon our beloved team. Interestingly, instead of being a ruler of a nation, he was transformed into a corporate CEO in this adaptation. The 2015 reboot, often criticized, featured Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom, who was associated with the Baxter Foundation and linked to the team’s origin tale. Contrarily, in the comics, Doctor Doom didn’t make his debut until issue #5 of The Fantastic Four, despite having a past history with Reed Richards during their college days, he wasn’t connected to them acquiring their powers.

Get Ready for ‘Doomsday’ in the Next ‘Avengers’ Film

In the upcoming movie “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” Doctor Doom won’t make an appearance, but you can expect him to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon. Interestingly, Robert Downey Jr. will portray Doctor Doom in the 2026 film “Avengers: Doomsday” and the following year in “Avengers: Secret Wars.” Since “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is currently the only film scheduled before “Doomsday,” it’s possible that Doctor Doom might make a cameo in the post-credit scene of the upcoming “Fantastic Four” movie, setting up his appearance in “Avengers: Doomsday.” Essentially, this means Doctor Doom could potentially be featured in a Fantastic Four film before his standalone Avengers appearances.

In a logical move, it’s understandable that Marvel Comics would choose Doctor Doom as the main antagonist for the next two Avengers films, given his reputation as their most formidable villain. However, introducing him in Avengers: Doomsday could potentially repeat the errors of previous Fantastic Four movies, since the film will have to manage a multitude of heroes. Doctor Doom has a substantial backstory that could easily fill an entire movie on its own, and prior to Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox, he almost did. The Russo brothers now face the challenge of weaving Doctor Doom’s narrative alongside those of numerous other superheroes. While Thanos was successfully introduced in Avengers: Infinity War, given the past three unsuccessful attempts at portraying Doctor Doom, this representation carries significantly higher expectations.

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2025-04-12 00:02