Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*.

With all the details we currently have about The Fantastic Four: First Steps, I’m starting to worry one endearing new character’s fate is to die in their MCU movie debut. Despite being one of Marvel’s biggest superhero teams, the Fantastic Four were absent from the MCU timeline for well over a decade. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness brought our first look at the members of the team via a multiversal variant of Mister Fantastic in 2022, and now – three years later – the main MCU versions of the characters are set to make their appearance in the story of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Naturally, this is exciting new ground for the MCU, especially since the Fantastic Four are such core parts of many major overarching Marvel comic stories – and since they have a lot of fascinating solo comic narratives that would be perfect for the franchise to adapt on-screen. With that said, it’s clear the MCU is already starting things on a big note, as The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer and teasers have revealed the group will be facing off against Galactus in the movie – which, when combined with other new reveals about the film, places one of the MCU “First Family” in a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly looking position.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Trailer & Thunderbolts* Post-Credits Reinforce The Idea That The Upcoming MCU Movie Contains Untold Destruction

The Upcoming MCU Movie’s Story Puts A New World In Colossal Danger

With only a few months left before The Fantastic Four: First Steps actively debuts in cinemas, more details than ever have become clear about the upcoming MCU movie and what its story entails. These reinforce the idea that Marvel’s First Family will become part of the main MCU universe because their initial home is destroyed, given the premise of Galactus appearing and setting their world in his sights doesn’t exactly look great in terms of the survival chances for the Earth itself.

One of the Thunderbolts* post-credits scenes serves to further drive this home via its connection to the Fantastic Four in its final moments. In the scene, the New Avengers see what appears to be the Fantastic Four’s ship entering their world, suggesting they had to flee their own in order to survive. This would easily explain how they end up encountering the MCU’s main heroes in Avengers: Doomsday, and reinforces the idea of Galactus being a major threat, meaning this explanation currently seems far more likely than them flying to the main universe to put it in Galactus’ crosshairs instead.

With The Fantastic Four: First Steps in a position where it looks like it will have to bring chaos and destruction to this universe, it seems likely there will need to be a sacrificial lamb to underline the tragedy and seriousness of the occasion, since audiences will have had far less time to become attached to this alternate Earth. This is also in line with the use of the multiverse thus far, which has slain the Illuminati and several Loki variants to underline the stakes previously. Unfortunately, this doesn’t bode well for one plucky new MCU character’s debut appearance.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Very Unlikely To Kill Off The Main Family – But They Do Have A “Member Of The Family” Whose Fate Isn’t So Certain

The MCU Has Set Up An Extra Member Of The Fantastic Four Family Who Could Be Perfect To Sacrifice For The Story

While The Fantastic Four: First Steps may choose to simply kill off the general public in the Galactus attack to show how serious things are, this does have risks. Without time to truly get to grips with this world, the deaths of nameless faceless fictional characters who never had a story per se to begin with could miss conveying the full impact of an event that would be truly horrifying and devastating. As such, it makes sense to also kill characters who are a little closer to home for viewers should this take place.

Killing a character who is central to the story would make things feel far more real for viewers, akin to Thunderbolts* deciding to kill off Taskmaster. However, the MCU is very unlikely to use its main team roster to do this, since the main Fantastic Four heroes are so beloved that losing any of them would seem a particular waste. With that said, the movie’s director has raised another possibility by describing another character in an interview with Empire as “absolutely as important and as alive as any other member of the cast” and “definitely a member of the family.“

Matt Shakman is here referring to H.E.R.B.I.E – a robotic character taken from the comics who has his own personality and who the trailers show Ben Grimm having a particular fondness for as the two make dinner. Notably, when describing H.E.R.B.I.E, Shakman comments that “He’s charming, he’s funny — but he also will break your heart… Which I hope is emblematic of the movie.” Given the context, the idea the character “will break your heart” in the same way the movie will suggests his story will be connected to the tragedies of the plot, which makes his doom feel impending.

The MCU Killing Off H.E.R.B.I.E For Dramatic Effect Would Make Painful, Awful Sense For The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The MCU & Marvel’s Comics Support The Idea That Killing H.E.R.B.I.E Would Make Sense For The Movie

The MCU killing off characters you didn’t expect to find yourself so attached to or sad about seeing go upon witnessing their death is par for the course for the franchise. Anyone who watched Yondu’s original interactions and conflict with Peter Quill would be forgiven for not expecting to find themselves quite so teary-eyed upon seeing him sacrifice his life while admitting he thinks of Quill as his son in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, and the same can be said for several characters initially introduced as villains, like Loki and Agatha Harkness, who quickly became fan-favorite antiheroes.

As such, not only would killing off the unfortunate “bonus” member of Marvel’s First Family make sense in terms of cementing the tragedies of the story and giving some tangible connection to the devastation Galactus is clearly about to carry out, it’d also align with the MCU’s prior approaches, and history of killing off characters to emphasize the threats of powerful figures like Thanos and Scarlet Witch. Since H.E.R.B.I.E currently appears to be the most easily sacrificial focal character for the film, this puts him in a particularly precarious position, especially because of his teased heartbreaking story.

The MCU has taken pains to show the humanity of its initially more robotic-seeming characters before, and Vision’s arc and tragic double deaths certainly make the concept seem both possible and likely harrowing. These ideas are only solidified by H.E.R.B.I.E having also previously sacrificed himself before in the comics to protect the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #217, which I think could well set a precedent for the MCU to break hearts via its new robot friend over 40 years later in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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  Thunderbolts*

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Doomsday

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

  
  
  
  

  
  

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