“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is now playing in theaters, and it’s another step in the right direction for Marvel Studios. Unlike the Fox movies that preceded the MCU, Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot delivers a story befitting the superhero team. As of this writing, the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score is hovering around 90%, while the global box office take is just shy of $250 million.
“First Steps” works very well as a standalone superhero movie. You don’t have to be an MCU obsessive to understand what’s happening. It helps that this Fantastic Four story takes place in a separate universe: Earth-828. That’s not a spoiler, as Marvel has confirmed this First Family hails from a different reality than Earth-616, which is home to our beloved Avengers.
But “First Steps” is part of the MCU, so it has to establish some connections. After all, the Fantastic Four ship popped up in the MCU at the end of “Thunderbolts*” earlier this year. “The Fantastic Four” follows up on that with a shocking mid-credits scene featuring none other than Doctor Doom. Most fans expected this cameo, considering that “First Steps” is one of the last MCU movies prior to “Avengers: Doomsday.”
As exciting as the credits scene might have been, we were left with two important questions about Doctor Doom. Thankfully, we have answers to both of them. This is where I warn you about major spoilers below, as they might concern “Doomsday,” which won’t hit theaters until December 18, 2026.
What MCU reality is Doctor Doom from?
“The Fantastic Four” mid-credits scene shows us Doctor Doom appearing in the Baxter Building four years after the events of the movie. Franklin Richards is four years old, and he gets to meet this frightening stranger who seemingly teleports into the room. We don’t get to see how Doctor Doom arrives, and we don’t see his face, though his mask is clearly off.
Fans have been dying to find out which universe this Doctor Doom variant is coming from. I had hoped the answer would be Earth-838, the universe we last visited in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.” I secretly wanted Doom to be the Superior Iron Man of that universe. Better said, I hoped that Iron Man variant would want revenge for what Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) did to his Illuminati team. This would explain why Doom looks like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).
Victor Von Doom belongs to 828 https://t.co/SQ3e8mlNtu
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) July 27, 2025
That doesn’t appear to be the case, as Marvel scooper Alex Perez said on X that Doctor Doom belongs to Earth-828. While the claim isn’t coming from Marvel, Perez has routinely provided accurate information about MCU projects. Considering the Latveria Easter eggs in “The Fantastic Four”, the claim makes sense. We saw not once, but twice, that a Latverian representative was skipping various assemblies. That’s Doctor Doom’s home country in the comics, and one he rules with an iron fist.
Who plays Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
Doctor Doom being based on Earth-828 also lets Marvel offer a simple explanation for why he wants Franklin. Rather than Doom coming from somewhere in the multiverse, Doom exists in the same reality as the superpowered child. Thus, Doom knows that a powerful being like Galactus (Ralph Ineson) would have spared the planet in return for the baby of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby).
Doom might not know that Franklin revived Sue, but he’d suspect the kid has some amazing powers and might want to use them himself. “Avengers: Doomsday” plot leaks suggest that Doom needs Franklin’s powers to revive Earth-616’s Wanda. Then there’s Doom’s potentially disfigured face. In “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” credits scene, we don’t see it, but Doom has a mask for a reason.
This detail prompted speculation that Robert Downey Jr. might not have been in the Doctor Doom costume for that scene. The actor isn’t credited for the cameo. Some think Marvel announced that Robert Downey Jr. would play Doom as a decoy to hide Iron Man’s revival. Those theories suggest that a surprise actor might play the main Doctor Doom.
But now we have an official answer. Vanessa Kirby confirmed to Variety that Robert Downey Jr. is wearing the costume in the credits scene. “Yeah, [that was Downey Jr. in the scene]!,” the actress said. “Robert’s never not been on set. He’s always there. He is our leader. We call him our Godfather. He’s looked after us. It’s such a joy working with the Russos and him, because they’ve had such deep collaboration for so long.”
