Everyone witnessed that jaw-dropping mid-credit scene in Fantastic Four, where we finally got our first glimpse of Doctor Doom. While Marvel masterfully kept his face hidden, they’ve managed to do what they’re most famous for: raising more questions than providing answers. We all thought Fantastic Four might actually give us some closure, but instead, we’re left wondering where RDJ fits into all this, why Doom’s face remains concealed, and most importantly, what does Franklin Richards have to do with Doctor Doom’s grand scheme?
Director Matt Shekman has confirmed that the figure we saw wasn’t a stunt double or body double – it was actually RDJ himself. Of course, there’s no way to definitively prove this unless Marvel continues this exact scene in Avengers: Doomsday or revisits it in a flashback. For now, we’re taking the director’s word, but the bigger question remains: is this the main Doctor Doom we’ll see ruling in Avengers: Doomsday?
Is This the Real Doctor Doom Who Will Rule Doomsday?
Character-wise, this appears to be the same Doctor Doom destined for Avengers: Doomsday. However, Marvel could easily explain his absence during Galactus’s attack by revealing he’s not from this universe at all. This would perfectly explain why Doctor Doom didn’t show up when his own planet faced such a massive threat – because he simply wasn’t from this world.
But here’s where things get complicated: Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four share a rich history in the comics. It would make perfect sense if they’re from the same universe, with these characters already knowing each other. Susan’s reaction to finding her son with Doctor Doom – the same person she fought against years ago to drive away a cosmic being – suggests there’s definitely shared history here. Yet Marvel deliberately chose not to explain this connection, even keeping Latveria’s throne empty in the movie. They want to keep things as ambiguous as possible.
The Four-Year Time Gap: Where Was Doctor Doom?
The mid-credit scene takes place four years after Galactus’s departure, which raises a crucial question: why now? The answer lies in Franklin’s growth and development. During the movie, Galactus specifically points out that Franklin is much more powerful than he appears, actually hiding his own abilities subconsciously. This demonstrates Franklin’s incredible potential and suggests he’s becoming more of a genius-type character in the MCU.
Interestingly, this genius aspect typically belongs to his younger sister Valeria in the comics, who’s the super-smart prodigy while Franklin isn’t quite as intellectually gifted. If the MCU makes Franklin both a genius and incredibly powerful, he becomes extremely dangerous. With that level of intelligence combined with cosmic-level abilities, there’s virtually nothing he couldn’t accomplish – and that’s exactly what Doctor Doom wants to exploit.
The movie even addresses this concern when Reed and Susan discuss whether Franklin might become a monster given his immense power and intelligence. While they dismiss this worry by the film’s end, Doomsday might revisit this plot point when Doom begins manipulating Franklin into actions no superhero would take.
Doctor Doom’s Multiverse Travels and Master Plan
So why wait four years? The most logical explanation is that Doctor Doom is from off-world and has been traveling the multiverse. He likely discovered multiverse travel long before Reed did and left to explore. We can theorize that when Reed shared his bridge blueprints with different countries so they could build similar models and teleport entire populations to safety, one of these models reached Latveria. Doctor Doom saw it and improved upon it for multiverse travel.
However, Reed’s bridge couldn’t teleport an egg from one location to another without powering down an entire city block. How could Doom manage multiverse travel? He definitely doesn’t have bridge-like technology – he possesses his own advanced tech that enables multiverse traversal.
If you listen carefully to the mid-credit scene, there’s a subtle sound effect when Susan approaches Franklin. This sound differs from both the Illuminati Reed’s technology and the Council of Kangs’ tech we’ve heard before. Marvel has an excellent opportunity here to give all these teleportation devices similar aesthetics and sounds, suggesting the technology shares common origins with different people improving upon the same base discovery.
The Cosmic Crisis That Drove Doom Away
During these four years, Doctor Doom likely scoured every corner of the multiverse but couldn’t find a solution to the multiverse’s destruction. He witnessed countless incursions and observed the Council of Kangs. There’s a high possibility that if Marvel wants to quickly resolve the Kang situation, they could reveal that this Doctor Doom has already eliminated Kang. This would establish that Doom has gathered immense power over these four years – strong enough to defeat the Kangs who were planning to rule the multiverse, yet still unable to stop incursions or prevent the multiverse’s complete destruction.
That’s precisely why he needs Franklin Richards.
Franklin Richards: The Key to Battle World Creation
We learned from Galactus in the Fantastic Four movie that Franklin possesses the Power Cosmic – an unlimited source of cosmic energy that allows him to generate infinite cosmic power and accomplish virtually anything. This positions Franklin to potentially replace Molecule Man’s role from the Secret Wars comics.
In Marvel Comics, when Doctor Doom investigates Secret Wars, he discovers that the Beyonders created a Molecule Man in every universe. These Molecule Men function somewhat like anchor beings – when one dies, their entire universe gets destroyed. The Beyonders systematically kill Molecule Men across universes, causing incursions purely for entertainment. Marvel’s anchor being theory fits perfectly: every universe has an anchor being, and killing them triggers automatic universe destruction and incursions.
In the comics, Doctor Doom uses Molecule Man to create Battle World because of his immense power. Here, Doom could accomplish the same thing with Franklin.
The Manipulation Strategy: How Doom Will Use Franklin
When Doctor Doom removes his mask in front of Franklin, Marvel will likely show facial scars, but not as severely disfigured as in some Secret Wars comics. They might go with the original Doctor Doom origin where he has only a small scar, but his massive ego can’t handle even that minor imperfection, leading him to hide behind a mask.
What if RDJ’s face shows just a tiny scar that Franklin could easily heal? Witnessing this healing ability, Doctor Doom would decide Franklin needs to come with him, likely taking Susan as well.
Doom would then begin manipulating Franklin by explaining how the multiverse is being destroyed. Since Franklin’s favorite book is Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species,” and he’s a certified genius, he already understands evolution and human species existence concepts. Under Doom’s manipulation, Franklin could create his own Battle World.
The patchwork design of Battle World – pieces taken from here and there – makes perfect sense as something created by a child’s mind, resembling a Fortnite-like world assembled from various fragments.
The Loki Connection and Free Will Dilemma
You might wonder why Loki allows all this to happen when he controls everything. The answer is simple: free will. Loki sits on that throne because he decided to let the multiverse grow and gave everyone free will to do whatever they choose. This current situation is the result of that decision.
When Doctor Doom brings the manipulated Franklin before Loki and explains everything, Franklin could easily help Doom defeat Loki with his cosmic powers.
Secret Wars Setup: The Ultimate Endgame
Based on my analysis, Doctor Doom approached Franklin specifically to help create Battle World. Initially, Doom might not have this plan – just like in the comics, he probably wants to stop incursions. But gradually, as he discovers that entire planets are being destroyed with nothing left to save, Battle World becomes his last resort: creating a world he can rule to prevent total annihilation.
This Doctor Doom has likely tried other methods: visiting X-Men planets, traveling to Earth-616, journeying to different universes and absorbing powers from the most powerful superheroes to stop incursions. When he realizes it’s not enough, Battle World creation becomes inevitable. Whether Franklin replaces Molecule Man, or Loki, or some other third party like Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man takes that role, we’ll discover when the time comes. But the Secret Wars setup is undeniably in motion, and Franklin Richards holds the key to Doctor Doom’s ultimate plan for multiverse salvation – or domination.
