Marvel Studios might have spoiled how Avengers: Doomsday resolves The Fantastic Four: First Steps' post-credit scene. The MCU delivered the third live-action iteration of Marvel's First Family in 2025, but this time around brought the unexpected debut of Franklin Richards. While he look like any ordinary baby, First Steps made it clear that Franklin is anything but that, with cosmic abilities that even allowed him to resurrect his mother, Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm, who briefly perished fighting Ralph Ineson's Galactus on the streets of New York.
Four years after Galactus' attack, The Fantastic Four: First Steps left fans with a dramatic twist as Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom was seen face-to-face with Franklin Richards in the Baxter Building. Many speculated that Doom may have kidnapped the cosmically-powered child of the Fantastic Four, hoping to harness his power or, at the very least, use it to his advantage in Avengers: Doomsday.
It had been suggested that it was Franklin's kidnapping that led to Marvel's First Family landing on Earth-616 in Thunderbolts*, perhaps pursuing Victor Von Doom across the Multiverse or seeking help for the Avengers as he enacts his plans. One major theory speculated that Doctor Doom may be aboard this ship, either alongside the Fantastic Four or having commandeered their vessel.
Avengers: Doomsday's fourth teaser trailer brought the first look at the Fantastic Four after their 2025 appearance through Ebon Mass-Bachrach's Thing. The rocky superhero had his first meeting with Earth-616's heroes, more specifically with Winston Duke's M'Baku and the Wakandans, possibly on their home turf.
As Thing and M'Baku shook hands for the first time, their conversation had a clearly jovial tone about it, lacking much sense of urgency or distraught as the Fantastic Four hero joked about his New York address:
M'Baku: "King M'Baku of Wakanda."
Thing: "Ben...uh, Yancy Street, between Broome and Grant."
The Fantastic Four made it clear that Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm were just as invested in Franklin's wellbeing as his parents, Reed Richards and Sue Storm, as they went to war with a cosmic being to keep their nephew at home with them.
With Grimm in good spirits as a Multiversal Incursion looms, it's tough to imagine that Franklin has been kidnapped by the MCU's latest big bad. Instead, it seems likely that the Fantastic Four have teamed up with their future foe, and many are convinced that Marvel Studios is even hiding Doom in that trailer.
What Is Franklin Richards' Role in Avengers: Doomsday?
In the Time Runs Out storyline that set the stage for Secret Wars, Doctor Doom created Battleworld by using the immense abilities of Molecule Man to steal the power of the Beyonders - nigh-omnipotent beings who exist outside the Multiverse.
Marvel Studios is reportedly replacing the Beyonders' role with God Loki in Doomsday, which leaves the question of how he will steal his power. As there is no Molecule Man in sight for the time being, perhaps Doom could somehow manipulate Franklin into helping him steal Loki's power, setting up Secret Wars.
Regardless of what happens, The Fantastic Four made it clear that Franklin is one of the most powerful being in the MCU. As Marvel Studios rushed to introduce the Fantastic Four's child in the team's first appearance, it's tough to imagine that there aren't big plans for him in Avengers 5 and 6, as well as other MCU projects.
