The Fantastic Four have as much at stake in Avengers: Doomsday as anyone. The incursions threaten the world they worked so hard to protect from Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Marvel's First Family had to give up a lot to bring down the Devourer of Worlds, including comforts at home. The portal tests messed with the power on Earth-828, leaving many people, but especially Ben Grimm, between a rock and a hard place.
New Doomsday merchandise teases that The Thing will find himself in a similar situation in his next big-screen appearance. Hasbro released first looks at some additions to its Doomsday wave of Marvel Legends figures. Mister Fantastic's toy comes with his trusty robot companion, HERBIE, while Invisible Woman and Human Torch are part of a two-pack. The Thing comes on his own, but he has a notable accessory: an interchangeable head with a beard.
When the trailer for First Steps was released, a brief shot of The Thing with a beard caused a stir online. Unfamiliar fans didn't understand how a being made of rocks could grow facial hair, and comic readers took it as a sign of tragedy because the hero only dons that look in the comics after a major time skip that usually sees him grow old as his friends die.
First Steps didn't try to complicate matters. Ebon Moss-Bachrach's character was forced to grow the beard because he had never had the power to use his incredibly powerful razor. It's hard to imagine similar circumstances arriving in Doomsday. Maybe Hasbro knew it needed to make The Thing figure more enticing to collectors, so it threw in a second head without worrying about the implications.
But it's impossible to ignore what the return of the beard could mean. After all, Doomsday is a movie shrouded in mystery, mostly because Marvel Studios doesn't want to peel the curtain back on its new villain, Doctor Doom, who made his MCU debut in First Steps' post-credits scene, before it has to. The green cover is going to come off eventually, though. And when it does, the beard may very well signal the start of a dark era.
Avengers: Doomsday Could Feature a Major Time Skip (Or Something Worse)
Avengers movies are no strangers to time skips. At the start of Avengers: Endgame, Earth's Mightiest Heroes still had hope that they could undo Thanos' handy work. They hunted him down and cut the Infinity Gauntlet off his hand. However, the plan fell apart when they realized that the Mad Titan had already destroyed the Infinity Stones. Thor finally went for the head, and the Avengers left the planet with their heads down.
Over the next five years, the titular team and their allies lost their way. That's how devastating the loss to Thanos was. And now Doctor Doom will look to take a page out of his predecessor's book and send all of the MCU's heroes running home with their tails between their legs. Things might go so off the rails that Mister Fantastic, Captain America, and the rest have to regroup for an extended period of time, long enough for The Thing to grow his beard back.
Doom isn't going to let them regain their strength without making a move of his own. In the comic book event Secret Wars, which Doomsday is taking inspiration from, Doom amassed incredible power and used it to rewrite reality. The finished product was called Battleworld, and it put all the good guys in tough spots they had to fight their way out of. If Doomsday follows the same blueprint, Doom can catch his enemies by surprise, just like Thanos did in Avengers: Infinity War.
That's another way that Doomsday could incorporate The Thing's beard. The residents of Battleworld in the comics didn't remember anything about their lives prior to arriving there. They just woke up and believed everything was the way it was supposed to be. Ben Grimm might serve the MCU's Battleworld as a security guard or entertain the masses as a wrestler and think the beard is a good look for him.
Anything goes on Battleworld, which means Hasbro's Marvel Legends accessories and any other pieces of merchandise are things to take note of. Marvel Studios is great about keeping its cards close to the vest. However, the company also has a habit of hiding major reveals right under everyone's noses and doing a victory lap once the truth comes out.
