We’re over a year away from the next massive Marvel release, with Avengers: Doomsday set for a December 18th, 2026, release date. The hype’s already there, of course, it’s an Avengers film, but The Fantastic Four: First Steps enhanced that in a major way.
This article will contain spoilers from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, so if you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend bookmarking our article and closing it down; you can return to it after.
During the early years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the incredible things that was done was the slow build-up and hype for Thanos. He first appeared at the end of the first Avengers film, and his appearances were sporadic as we led into Infinity War. The tension increased from movie to movie as we knew that he was coming eventually.
Unfortunately, for Robert Downey Jr. and Dr. Doom, we won’t get this lengthy 6-year build-up. This is due to Marvel pivoting away from Jonathan Majors and the controversies surrounding him; this meant his character, Kang, had to be scrapped. Head of Marvel, Kevin Feige, admitted in an interview recently that they felt like Kang wasn’t anywhere near the level of Thanos in terms of popularity.
They then managed to convince Downey Jr. to return to Marvel, but this time as Dr. Doom and not as Tony Stark. This already creates a large amount of intrigue as to how some of our heroes will react to seeing him for the first time. The seeds were there already, and the 3 films released this year plant those seeds.
Captain America: Brave New World was about bringing the Avengers back. Thunderbolts showed the Fantastic Four ship heading towards our Earth, and the Fantastic Four gave us a glimpse of the upcoming villain himself.
This is why I’m starting to get hyped. The films are bringing things together in the background, similar to how it was before the first Avengers movie. The Fantastic Four’s end credit scene did more for me and has made me overly excited for Doomsday.
The end credit scene showed us 4 years on from the Galactus fight. Franklin is, of course, a little older and is now a toddler. Sue heads into the kitchen to locate a book that Franklin likes. When she returns, we see the back of Dr. Doom on his knee with Franklin holding his mask.
My opinion is that Doom will take Franklin, and this is why the Fantastic Four head towards our Earth, which will kick off the events of Doomsday. That small, tiny cameo didn’t even need to show us Robert Downey Jr. to create intrigue, hype, and links to the overall universe, which has been needed for a long time now.
It’s no secret that Marvel has stagnated in recent years. It feels like one moment they’re back, then they’re done, then they’re back, but for me, this is back-to-back hits. Despite people’s thoughts, I enjoyed Brave New World. Thunderbolts and First Steps were brilliant, and I think it’s been a good year for superhero movies, even more so considering we get our 5th Avengers film in just over a year.
Tom Holland didn’t get a seat when the cast was announced on that lengthy live video, but so far (excluding any potential delays), Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the next Marvel film and the only one left before Doomsday. It’s easy to see why Tom didn’t get a seat, yet. There’s one more film to further hype Doomsday. I think this will finally do it.
I do just want to say, before I wrap this article up, though, that The Fantastic Four: First Steps was absolutely brilliant. I only got around to watching it today due to childcare issues, and what an experience it was. I can’t wait to watch it again when it drops on Disney+. I just hope Disney can get the Spider-Man IP fully back from Sony next and let them run wild with it.
