A Fantastic Four: First Steps prequel has been released ahead of the return of the team and Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. The Fantastic Four are the newest superhero team to enter the MCU, with the core four comprising Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The Phase 6 film was also responsible for a first look at the MCU's next big bad, with Doctor Doom appearing in the movie's post-credits sequence.
While The Fantastic Four's sights have now moved on to Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel Studios is continuing to fill in the blanks about the team through a series of official prequel comics to the MCU movie. A recent release in this space was Fantastic Four: First Foes – Shalla-Bal #1, a prequel exploring the origins of the film's villain, Shalla-Bal, aka the Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner.
The comic by Charles Soule and Mark Buckingham is set in the same universe as The Fantastic Four: First Steps and explores Shalla-Bal's life as Galactus's herald. Fantastic Four: First Foes – Shalla-Bal #1 hit shelves in June.
As the movie revealed, Shalla-Bal was a scientist living peacefully with her daughter on the world of Zenn-La.
When Galactus arrived, she offered herself up as his herald in exchange for sparing her world. She later arrived on Earth-828 to warn the Fantastic Four of Galactus's arrival and attempted to steal Sue and Reed's baby, Franklin, from them for Galactus.
This new comic reveals some of Shalla-Bal's early days as Galactus's herald and the story behind the planet of Polaris.
Shalla-Bal arrived to ease the conflict on the war-torn planet, and she fought on all sides. When the people reacted and tried to destroy the Silver Surfer with its corestars, she absorbed the radiation, saving them from a possibly cataclysmic event.
However, the peace was short-lived, as Shalla-Bal quickly revealed to them their planet had been marked for death. The people questioned why she would save them only to have them destroyed, and Shalla-Bal revealed that she wanted them to know peace, even if only for a short time.
Shalla-Bal eventually redeemed herself in The Fantastic Four: First Steps after Johnny reminded her of the planets she'd helped destroy with recordings of their last moments, and she chose to help the team in the final battle by pushing Galactus through the intergalactic portal.
Shalla-Bal and Galactus were the Fantastic Four's greatest foes in the MCU, until Doctor Doom's late-stage arrival in the film's post-credits scene, which sets up an even bigger conflict to come in Avengers: Doomsday. Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU to play Victor von Doom, switching from the side of the heroes to the villains with his new role.
Marvel has released other comic prequels to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, including The Fantastic Four: First Foes, which explored the heroes' origin story and their battle against the Mad Thinker. The Fantastic Four: First Foes - Shalla-Bal is the second of four planned one-shots in the prequel comic tie-in series, with two more to come before the end of 2026.
Marvel Comics Expands on The Fantastic Four Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday
With Avengers: Doomsday in sight and the arrival of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom after his tease in The Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scene, Marvel is preparing for the villain's arrival by expanding on the origins of his notable enemies, the Fantastic Four.
Doctor Doom has typically been the main antagonist for the Fantastic Four, with Victor and Reed sharing a history as they came up as scientists together, often engaging in a competitive personal rivalry with deadly consequences. But rather than him serve as the villain in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios is saving Doctor Doom for the main villain of the Multiverse Saga.
The Avengers: Doomsday trailer has confirmed that the Fantastic Four are aware of Victor von Doom, with Sue Storm knowing him to be the smartest man in every room, until a tragedy broke him. This suggests the Fantastic Four members may not be aware of Victor's transition into Doctor Doom, having last known him as the man, not the villain.
Through these Fantastic Four: First Steps prequel comics, Marvel Studios has the chance to go even deeper into the superhero team's history, which could eventually involve their relationship to Victor von Doom.
Marvel Comics has yet to announce what the fourth one-shot from The Fantastic Four: First Foes will be centered on. With it expected to be released before the end of 2026, likely near the release of Avengers: Doomsday, this last one-shot may be the perfect one to focus on Victor von Doom and his origins with the Fantastic Four, giving fans context for Downey Jr.'s villain before he arrives on-screen.
