Someone Finally Asked First Steps' Director If RDJ's Doctor Doom Will Appear. As A Fantastic Four Fan, I'm Curious About These Conflicting Rumors

There’s a lot riding on the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps when it hits theaters in July. It’s the third time the first family of comics has been adapted for the screen. It’s also the third MCU movie on the 2025 movie schedule, and the first two have failed to set the box office on fire. One thing First Steps has going for it is that the film is expected to be a major setup for next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, though if the director is to be believed, not in the way we think.

With a lot of fans already looking forward to the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, and the fact that his character of Doctor Doom is traditionally seen opposing the Fantastic Four, there has been a lot of reason to believe that RDJ may appear in the upcoming Marvel movie first. However, the director says that’s not the case.

Despite Rumors, Fantastic Four Director Says Doctor Doom “Not Part Of My Film”

The primary villain of Fantastic Four: First Steps will be the planet-eater Galactus. However, that certainly doesn’t mean we won’t see Doctor Doom in the film. In fact, there have been rumors about a post-credits scene that will see Doom appear. However, when Empire asked director Matt Shakman about Doom, he responded (via CBM)...

This would seem to create a pretty significant contradiction. Shakman’s statement is pretty unequivocal, which would seem to indicate the rumors of Doctor Doom appearing are simply untrue. However, there is a way that everything actually might work out.

How Doctor Doom Might Still Appear In Fantastic Four: First Steps

There is a way to square the circle and make Matt Shakman’s statement true, without assuming the rumored post-credits scene is made up. It’s the simple fact that the post-credits scene may not actually be part of Fantastic Four: First Steps, but rather part of Avengers: Doomsday.

We know that the post-credits scene in Thunderbolts* wasn’t part of the production of that movie, but is actually a scene from Doomsday that was snipped out and used as a stinger, as has happened before in the MCU. For that reason, the scene wasn’t the work of Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier, but was actually helmed by Joe and Anthony Russo.

The same thing could be true here. If the post-credits scene in Fantastic Four was actually shot to be part of Doomsday, then it’s not part of Matt Shakman’s film and likely wasn’t directed by him. He’s not saying anything that isn’t true, but that doesn’t mean the scene won’t be there.

We’ll have to sit through the credits of The Fantastic Four: First Steps to know for sure, but it’s not like a lot of Marvel fans weren’t already planning to do that.