After Marvel’s First Family takes on Galactus and the Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it would be great to see them take on these other iconic villains from Marvel Comics in the MCU. Julia Garner and Ralph Ineson joined the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps back in April and May 2024, respectively, set to bring versions of Shalla-Bal’s female Silver Surfer and the planet-eating Galactus to life. They’ll be introduced in First Steps’ alternate universe to consume Earth, but this battle won’t mark the end of the Fantastic Four team.

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach have all already been confirmed to be reprising their roles in the MCU’s future, meaning the Fantastic Four will survive their battle against Galactus in 2025. Theories suggest the Fantastic Four will be joining the main continuity of Earth-616, which creates the opportunity for the team to take on many new villains in a new world after their Phase 6 debut. The Fantastic Four have fought many villains in their six-decade-long Marvel Comics history, so they could take on any number of them in live-action, too.

8

Annihilus

Annihilus Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1968’s Fantastic Four Annual #6

There has been speculation that Marvel Studios may be gearing up to introduce Annihilus into live-action for the first time ever, and with the Fantastic Four’s upcoming debut, this is more possible than ever before. In Marvel Comics, Annihilus is the ruler of the Negative Zone, which is an area discovered and regularly explored by Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four. Annihilus has clashed with the Fantastic Four many times over the years, with his attempts to invade Earth often being thwarted by the team, making him the perfect next villain for the Fantastic Four.

The most notable event featuring Annihilus is certainly the Annihilation storyline, which ran between November 2005 and May 2007. This event saw Annihilus lead his Annihilation Wave out of the Negative Zone and into Marvel’s main continuity, which brought the villain face-to-face with some of the most powerful and legendary cosmic heroes in Marvel’s history. The Annihilation event could easily be adapted to have Annihilus oppose Marvel’s First Family, as the team’s multiversal origins may connect them better to the cosmos of the live-action MCU, so it would be great to see Annihilus debut.

7

Philip Masters’ Puppet Master

Puppet Master Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1962’s Fantastic Four #8

It’s almost inevitable that the Puppet Master will be making his MCU debut either in or after The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as he is the stepfather of Alicia Masters, the most notable love interest of Ben Grimm in Marvel Comics. Marvel hasn’t yet confirmed Alicia Masters’ upcoming introduction, but there has been speculation that Russian Doll star Natasha Lyonne could be playing the Thing’s romantic pursuit. This creates the perfect opportunity for the Puppet Master to also appear, and he would be a truly terrifying villain to see in the MCU.

The Puppet Master uses radioactive clay to make puppets in the likeness of real people, which he can then use to control these individuals like puppets. He has tried to take over the world on several occasions, even partnering with other notable supervillains to do so, but has always been beaten by the Fantastic Four. Following speculation about Natasha Lyonne debuting as Alicia Masters, there has also been talk that John Malkovich might be perfect for the role of Philip Masters’ Puppet Master, though only time will tell if this popular casting choice comes to fruition.

6

Namor

Namor Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1939’s Marvel Comics #1

Namor was one of the first three heroes ever to appear in Marvel Comics back in 1939, alongside Steve Rogers’ Captain America and the Human Torch android. As the mutant King of Atlantis, Namor is remarkably powerful, and he rediscovered this history after meeting the Fantastic Four as an amnesiac in 1962. Namor’s history with the Fantastic Four is lengthy, and while he’s often been depicted as a hero, he has also come into conflict with the team many times, especially because of his predatory romantic pursuit of Sue Storm’s Invisible Woman.

Namor has already made his live-action debut in the MCU, portrayed by Tenoch Huerta Mejía in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the MCU, Namor is the King of the underwater nation of Talokan, and he has already gone toe-to-toe with Leтιтia Wright’s Shuri, a.k.a. the Black Panther. His return has also been confirmed, as Namor will have a role in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. The Phase 6 crossover can introduce Namor to the Fantastic Four and perhaps set them up as adversaries for future MCU movies following The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

5

Maximus The Mad

Maximus Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1966’s Fantastic Four #47

While Namor is a mutant antagonist to the Fantastic Four, the team have also fought numerous Inhuman characters in Marvel Comics, too, and this includes Maximus the Mad. Introduced in 1966, Maximus is the brother to the Inhuman King of Attilan, Black Bolt, who was portrayed once again by Anson Mount in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, reprising his role from the reviled Inhumans series. Iwan Rheon portrayed Maximus in Marvel Television’s Inhumans, but Marvel Studios could reinvent the villain to make him much more powerful and terrifying in the MCU.

Maximus the Mad is a particularly haunting Inhuman villain as Terrigenesis granted him mental manipulation abilities that enable him to control the minds of others. Additionally, he has a remarkable intellect and is an incredibly skilled inventor, which means he could be the perfect scheming villain to replace the likes of Loki and Zemo, both of whom have recently been turned into antiheroes and heroes. Maximus has come up against the Fantastic Four several times, and it would be great to see Marvel Studios start to redeem Inhumans in the MCU after their disappointing Marvel Television debut.

4

Frightful Four

The Frightful Four Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1965’s Fantastic Four #36

Introduced in 1965, the Frightful Four is the perfect anтιтhesis to the Fantastic Four, which means this team of rotating supervillains would be a brilliant foil to Marvel’s First Family in the MCU. Originally, the Frightful Four comprised Wizard, Sandman, Paste-Pot Pete (later Trapster) and the amnesiac Inhuman Queen Medusa, and this team ambushed the Fantastic Four at Reed Richards and Sue Storm’s engagement party and even stole their powers. This weakened the Fantastic Four significantly, even nearly causing the members’ deaths, though the Fantastic Four always ended up on top.

Over the years, many other iconic villains have joined the ranks of the Frightful Four, creating many problems for the Fantastic Four in the several decades since their introduction. The likes of Thundra, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool, Taskmaster, Electro, тιтania, the Absorbing Man, She-Thing, Red Ghost and many more have been featured in the team’s line-up. The formation of a supervillain team such as the Frightful Four might be quite outlandish for the live-action MCU, but it would be brilliant to see a group of villains oppose Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing in the future.

3

Nathaniel Richards’ Rama-Tut

Rama-Tut Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1963’s Fantastic Four #19

When Marvel Comics’ Nathaniel Richards first discovered time travel technology in the far future, he journeyed back to become a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, ruling over the African nation as Rama-Tut. At first, it was implied that Rama-Tut was a descendant of Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four’s archenemy, but the villain, outed as Kang the Conqueror, was later revealed as a descendant of Reed Richards’ own time-traveling father and his namesake, Nathaniel Richards. In Ancient Egypt, Rama-Tut hoped to manipulate the mutant En Sabah Nur, a.k.a. Apocalypse, to take control of the formidable villain.

This plan was ultimately fruitless, as the Fantastic Four traveled back in time to fight Pharaoh Rama-Tut, thrusting him back into the timestream. Rama-Tut would be the perfect villain for the Fantastic Four in the MCU’s future, especially since we’ve already seen him in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Even though Jonathan Majors is no longer connected to the MCU as Kang and his variants, including Rama-Tut, a new actor could ᴀssume the role to battle the Fantastic Four and perhaps even mark Apocalypse’s debut in the MCU.

2

Reed Richards’ Maker

The Maker Debuted In Marvel Comics In 2004’s Ultimate Fantastic Four #1

Since Marvel Studios has put a lot of attention on the multiverse in recent years, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps will debut the тιтular team from an alternate reality, it makes sense that a mulitversal variant of Reed Richards could become a formidable new MCU villain. In the Ultimate Universe of Marvel Comics, Reed Richards became disillusioned with his role as Mister Fantastic and instead chose to use his intellect and other gifts for more nefarious purposes as the Maker. There has been a lot of speculation about the Maker’s possible MCU debut, or, in fact, return.

Miles Teller’s version of Reed Richards from 2015’s reviled Fantastic Four reboot was based on the Reed Richards of the Ultimate Universe. This has spurred speculation that Teller could return during the Multiverse Saga to become the Maker of the MCU. If not Teller, it would still be fantastic to see Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards come face-to-face with his evil multiversal counterpart, especially since the Maker has only grown in strength and influence in the two decades since his debut. He would be the perfect dark mirror to Pascal’s Mister Fantastic in the MCU.

1

Earth-616’s Victor Von Doom’s Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom Debuted In Marvel Comics In 1962’s The Fantastic Four #5

We’re all excited to see Robert Downey Jr. return to the MCU as Victor Von Doom, a.k.a. Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four’s archenemy and one of Marvel Comics’ most well-known and legendary supervillains. However, the fact that Downey Jr. played Tony Stark’s Iron Man for over a decade in the MCU’s Infinity Saga means he surely won’t be playing the Doctor Doom of the MCU’s Earth-616, though the masked villain may be out there somewhere. After The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, this version of Doom could be a long-running new MCU villain.

Victor Von Doom studied with Reed Richards at university in the United States, and it was a compeтιтive experiment that caused Doom’s scarring and deformities, leading to Doom’s vendetta against Richards and the Fantastic Four. In the six decades since his debut in Marvel Comics, Doctor Doom has been a supervillain, a superhero and the Sorcerer Supreme, so his official debut in the 616 timeline of the MCU is essential. The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been rumored to feature Robert Downey Jr.’s version of the Latverian King, but future MCU projects could debut a new and more threatening iteration.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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  Thunderbolts*

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  May 2, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

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  July 25, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Doomsday

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  May 1, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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  July 31, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

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  May 7, 2027
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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