First Steps’ Post-Credits Scenes, Explained

Warning: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First StepsThe Fantastic Four: First Steps has finally opened in theaters. After multiple failed feature film adaptations, the team and The Marvel Cinematic Universe, which have been running for 17 years, have joined forces. The impossible has happened: Marvel Studios got the Fantastic Four right, capturing the heart of what fans have loved about these characters for 64 years.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps not only kicks off Phase 6 of the MCU, but the team is being positioned as the leading faces of the franchise moving forward, as they will appear in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. The movie is also the last MCU film for over a year until Spider-Man: Brand New Day on Jul. 31, 2026, meaning it had to leave audiences on a high note. The Fantastic Four: First Steps features two post-credits scenes, and, as is tradition, one teases the next movie while the other is a fun joke. Yet one of these post-credits scenes will certainly have fans talking for well over a year.

The Two Post-Credits Scenes, Explained

The mid-credit scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the big one. The credits jump forward four years after the film’s conclusion (meaning it has been eight years since the team got their powers). Sue Storm is reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to a now four-year-old Franklin Richards. She gets up to get another book, but when she returns to her son in the living room, a figure in a green cloak is hunched over, looking at Franklin Richards. In the figure’s hand is a metal mask, with Franklin reaching out to touch the figure’s face before the screen cuts to black, with the words “The Fantastic Four will return in Avengers: Doomsday” appearing across the screen.

The figure is none other than Doctor Doom, the archenemy of the Fantastic Four. Robert Downey Jr. will play Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. Though in the mid-credits scene, Doom’s face is not shown, and Downey Jr.’s voice is not heard.

The post-credits scene of the film features the opening intro of the in-universe Fantastic Four cartoon. The cartoon features animated versions of the Fantastic Four and H.E.R.B.I.E. done in the style of the 1967 Fantastic Four series, with an original song titled “The Fantastic Four Power Hour (Cartoon Theme).” The animation features the Fantastic Four fighting many iconic foes, including Paul Walter Hauser’s Mole Man, as well as two villains name-dropped earlier in the film, such as Puppet Master and Diablo. Additionally, it includes Dragon Man, a character not mentioned earlier in the movie but who seemingly exists in this reality. It’s a fun note that will leave audiences laughing, but it is the Doctor Doom tease that will be the buzziest new detail.

There’s a Doctor Doom-Shaped Hole in ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

Despite not seeing Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, Doom’s presence in The Fantastic Four: First Steps was alluded to earlier in the film. When Sue Storm is addressing the United Nations as the head of the Future Foundation, one country’s seat is notably left empty: Latveria, home of Doctor Doom. This implies that the Fantastic Four have already encountered Doctor Doom and that he is a known entity in this reality. It certainly gives credence to the fact that Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom hails from Earth 828 and is a foe of this incarnation of the Fantastic Four.

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However, aside from the Latverian seat at the Future Foundation meeting, Doctor Doom is not shown or referenced throughout the entire film until the end credits. Even then, he is not referenced by name, only by iconography. Given that Doom would likely have stepped in to try to save the day when Galactus threatens the planet and Mister Fantastic never mentions Doom as a possible threat, this suggests that Doctor Doom has been taken off the board before the events of the film.

How the Mid-Credits Scene Sets Up ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Just like with the Thunderbolts* end-credits scene, The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ post-credits scene was shot by Joe and Anthony Russo on the set of Avengers: Doomsday. Originally intended for release in May 2026, Avengers: Doomsday has since been delayed until December 2026, meaning the follow-up to the Doctor Doom tease is now 17 months away.

It appears that Doctor Doom has kidnapped Franklin Richards, forcing the Fantastic Four to pursue their archenemy across the multiverse. This ties in with the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts*, with the Fantastic Four’s ship arriving in the main MCU sacred timeline, likely to stop Doctor Doom. Franklin Richards’ status as an Omega-Level mutant, a child with the ability to rewrite reality, is key to the plot of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Galactus wants Franklin so he can take his place as the Devourer of Worlds, similar to how Franklin Richards is destined to become the new Galactus in the comics. Despite saving Franklin from Galactus, his powers to alter reality make him a high-profile target and one that Doctor Doom could look to exploit.

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As for what Doctor Doom has planned, he might look to use Franklin’s powers to stop the various incursions, possibly merging all the universes together and setting up Battleworld for Avengers: Secret Wars. This combines the Secret Wars comic with the 1996 event Heroes Reborn, in which Franklin used his powers to imprison the Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and Doctor Doom in a pocket reality. Franklin Richards also appears to be filling the role of The Beyonders in the Secret Wars storyline, keeping the multiversal conflict centered on its characters as opposed to an outside party, similar to how First Steps ditches the Ultimate Nullifier as a key to defeating Galactus.

Doom targeting one of the Fantastic Four’s children is reminiscent of Fantastic Four #68, Vol. 3, from June 2003. In that issue, it was Valeria Richards, Franklin’s younger sister, that Doom targeted. In the comics, Doom has a strong bond with Valeria Richards, as he helped deliver her when Reed was unable to do so. In exchange for his service, Doom only requested that the child be named Valeria, after his former childhood love. Doom puts her under royal protection and acts as the child’s godfather. It might be too early to bring Valeria into the MCU, so to keep things simple, Doctor Doom might be looking to form a similar bond with Franklin Richards, acting as a dark father figure. Is it odd for the epic MCU crossover team-up that is likely going to be one of the most expensive movies ever made to take a beat from Hook? Yes, but this is all speculation at this point.

One thing is for sure: Doctor Doom is officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sentence that felt like a pipe dream a decade ago.