Warning! This article contains spoilers for Thunderbolts*One detail about Thunderbolts*‘ post-credits scene makes me think it sets up Avengers: Doomsday more than it does The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* tells quite a self-contained story centered around the тιтular team and Robert Reynolds, but it also drops important hints to the MCU’s next phase. Thunderbolts*‘ ending reveals the Thunderbolts are now the New Avengers, just in time for them to meet Sam Wilson’s own team of Avengers and fight Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. Following the events of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel’s First Family will also participate in the battle.

Since The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in a separate timeline, the MCU needs to explain why and how the Fantastic Four travel to Earth-616. There are many possible ways the MCU can do this, but the most likely scenarios include the Fantastic Four escaping their Earth after Galactus destroys it, them fleeing their dying universe, or an incursion sending them to Earth-616 against their will. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will clarify details in July 2025, and Avengers: Doomsday will answer all remaining questions in May 2026, but the easter-egg-filled Thunderbolts* may already have teased what exactly happened to the “FF”.

The Fantastic Four Ship Appears In The MCU In The Thunderbolts* Credits Scene

Thunderbolts*’ Post-Credits Scene Suggests The Fantastic Four Flee To The Avengers’ Timeline

Before their movie releases, Thunderbolts*‘ post-credits scene reveals that the Fantastic Four’s ship is heading towards Earth without warning during a “space crisis”. At the New Avengers’ Tower, Yelena Belova receives a warning of an incoming spaceship. When she zooms in on the ship, she notices the Fantastic Four’s “4” emblem on it. This tease supports theories that suggest the Fantastic Four will flee their universe at the end of their movie, but there’s a very different possibility that would make Thunderbolts*‘ post-credits scene much darker.

MCU Theory: It’s Doctor Doom In The Fantastic Four Ship, Not The Marvel Heroes

Thunderbolts*’ Post-Credits Scene May Tease Doctor Doom’s True Origins

Thunderbolts*‘ post-credits scene reveals the logo on the Fantastic Four’s spaceship and The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ score, but it doesn’t actually show the team piloting the spacecraft. At face value, it would seem as though Thunderbolts* spoiled The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ ending. However, The Fantastic Four: First Steps could completely subvert expectations and reveal that it’s none other than Doctor Doom who steals the Fantastic Four’s spaceship and escapes to the Avengers’ timeline.

Such a twist would not only make Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ ending twists more exciting, but it would also answer a huge question about Avengers: Doomsday‘s plot. Where Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom comes from is a mystery, as Doom has never been referenced in the MCU’s main timeline and Downey isn’t part of The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ cast. Avengers: Doomsday could reveal that Downey’s Doom comes from the same universe as Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, and he starts his villain journey once their timeline gets destroyed.

What Doom Being In The Fantastic Four Ship Means For Avengers: Doomsday

Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Could Be More Closely Connected To The Fantastic Four Than First Thought

Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom will be a multiversal villain in Avengers: Doomsday, but his true origins are a mystery. If the Fantastic Four spaceship is really piloted by Doom instead of Reed Richards’ team, then Thunderbolts*‘ post-credits scene would reveal that Doom only becomes a multiversal villain after the events of The Fantastic Four: First Steps force him and the тιтular team to escape their timeline. In this case, Avengers: Doomsday (and Thunderbolts*, retroactively) could confirm that Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards and Robert Downey Jr. have a comic-accurate, lifelong feud.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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  Thunderbolts*

  Release Date

  
  May 2, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

  Release Date

  
  July 25, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Doomsday

  Release Date

  
  May 1, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day

  Release Date

  
  July 31, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

  Release Date

  
  May 7, 2027
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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