Out of all the villains Marvel Studios can choose from, which should they pick to go toe-to-toe against the Fantastic Four in their highly anticipated 2025 MCU debut?
When Marvel’s first family gets on screen again, it’ll be the fourth live-action iteration of the team. However, this time around, it’ll be different - they have an entire cinematic universe to interact with.
However, before they start crossing paths with like likes of Bruce Banner or Sam Wilson, they’ll likely have to go up against some big threat first. The big question is - who will get the honor?
Who Will be the MCU's Fantastic Four Villain?
Honorable Mention - Doctor Doom
Many consider Doctor Doom to be one of the greatest villains in all of Marvel Comics. Despite that, he should not be the focus of this new reboot—at least not yet.
The character should always be intrinsically connected to the Fantastic Four and their origins, but it may be best if the MCU avoids having this third reboot focus on Doom as the lead villain once again.
Perhaps Victor Von Doom could start out as an ally, possibly having a strained relationship with Reed and his companions. As the movie progresses, Doom can slowly fall from grace, or at the very least, have his ideals revealed to be far different from the Fantastic Four themselves, severing and complicating their acquaintanceship.
The best play for Marvel Studios would then be to allow Doom’s story to progress in the background, in smaller beats across different projects. An even smarter possibility would be if the character was given his own Special Presentation.
It's rumored that Doom will not be the main villain of Fantastic Four, but that he will be briefly introduced in a potential post-credits sequence.
The dream for many is that the MCU can get to the point where he’s the leader of his fictional city of Latveria.
1.) Mole Man
Yes, this is real - the Mole Man is on this list. Why?
Well, perhaps Marvel Studios wants to start on a much smaller scale than expected. Mole Man, also known as Harvey Elder, is the perfect villain to do that.
The short and stout man controls an army of underground monsters and even has an entire subterranean kingdom. To him, everything below the surface (sans water, which Namor lays claim to) is his to rule.
Involving Harvey would also be the perfect opportunity to dive into the titular team’s penchant for exploring and discovery - as they’d likely stumble upon his underground monsters on accident.
2.) The Wizard
The Wizard, also known as Bentley Whittman, would be another option for Marvel Studios if they wanted to have a lesser-stakes villain.
In this case, it would be in the form of a genius magician and inventor whose mission in life is to prove his intelligence is superior to Reed Richards—which, sadly for him, it is not. However, he does wear a technologically advanced suit that can go up against the strongest of superheroes, an ability that is put to the test quite often.
The first member of the Fantastic Four that he went up against in the comics was the Human Torch, defeating him with ease after trapping the hero under false pretenses, all because he was bored.
In reality, Whitman would work better as a smaller side villain in a larger plot. He’d also be a good minor character to grow over time throughout several minor appearances across projects.
3.) Annihilus
Described as an “interdimensional insectoid conqueror and tyrant,” Annihilus is the ruler of an anti-matter dimension called the Negative Zone. This place is a parallel reality that the Fantastic Four is consistently crossing paths with in their storylines.
Honestly, when it comes to overall narrative importance, the location is on the same level as the Quantum Realm. Maybe it’s time Marvel Studios shine a light on a different dimension, one that they can continue to weave into the Multiverse Saga’s story.
The vicious bad guy also has a cosmic weapon the MCU could introduce called the Cosmic Control Rod, something that keeps Annihilus’ drone army (A.I. bugs and a hive-mind, not robots) under his control.
Despite all of that, however, the MCU might want to save the big villain for a bigger cosmic event in the future—such as the fan-favorite Annihilation 2006 storyline.
4.) Super Skrull
After the Fantastic Four stop a Skrull invasion, their Emperor, Dorrek VII, takes to creating the first Super Skrull. This results in a Skrull named Kl’rt, who becomes endowed with all the powers of Marvel’s first family.
Sure, some might not like the idea of this villain since it fits within the trope of the heroes fighting themselves (since he has all their powers). However, in this case, there’s plenty that could be done to get over the minor speed bump.
Ever since Captain Marvel, Skrulls have been on the brink of a bigger storyline in the MCU. It’s teased both in Spider-Man: Far From Home and WandaVision, and now, it seems set to finally start unfolding with this year’s Secret Invasion.
This would also be the perfect time to lay the groundwork for Kl’rt’s introduction.
While he’s certainly been an outright villain for Reed and his family on numerous occasions, in the comics, he can also be portrayed as an anti-hero type, someone who has no qualms with compromising if a bigger situation comes into play.
5 & 6.) Molecule Man and the Beyonder
After an accident repairing an atomic device, Owen Reece, aka Molecule Man, became one of the most powerful beings in existence. He could control and affect all forms of energy and matter and manipulate reality at his whim.
To put it simply, he's basically unbeatable. However, in the comics, it's eventually revealed that Reece's accident poked a pinhole in existence itself, which led to the empowerment of a man known as The Beyonder, who also has God-like abilities.
To say The Beyonder is powerful is an understatement. The man is personally responsible for the first two Secret Wars events, while his wider race (also known as the Beyonders) went on to be introduced in comic canon for Jonathan Hickman's take on the iconic event.
As it turns out, the accident that created Molecule Man was actually an experiment by the wider Beyonder race that ended up turning him into what was basically a Multiversal bomb - one that gets set off and triggers the end of all things (aka, 2015's Secret Wars).
Needless to say, The Beyonder, and his race, are fairly convoluted and complex. Feel free to check out this article for a more comprehensive explanation of just who The Beyonder is.
Introducing these two, and potentially The Beyonder's entire race could be an important stepping stone to get the MCU's story to where it needs to be for Secret Wars to pop off.
The problem? They might be too big for a debut Fantastic Four film.
7.) A Kang Variant
There are two clear picks when it comes to Kang Variants that the Fantastic Four might go up against.
The first is Rama-Tut, who is the version of Kang that goes back in time and becomes an all-powerful Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt. This would give the reboot a quick opportunity to connect to the wider Saga, getting thrown into the deep end of the time-traveling pool.
Then there’s Immortus, a future Variant of Kang who is at the end of his own timeline. Oddly enough, not only would he serve as an antagonist to the Fantastic Four but also to every other Kang Variant out there.
To boil it down for those reading, he’s basically a far more cutthroat He Who Remains, as he wages war against his past and Variant selves.
As an additional fun connection, in the comics, Reed Richards interacts with his own council of Reeds—much like the council of Kangs brought up by He Who Remains in Loki.
8 & 9.) Galactus and His Heralds
When a comic fan thinks of the Fantastic Four, there’s one key villain who will almost certainly come to mind first: Galactus. Hopefully, it’s not the awful cosmic cloud from Rise of the Silver Surfer that comes to mind.
With the character’s rights now in Marvel Studios’ hands, Galactus could be done properly—and it should be towards the top of the company’s to-do list.
One of the most interesting elements of the character is how he isn’t some scheming villain with some master plan. He is a force of nature that keeps the universe balanced, and he cannot be stopped—only redirected or compromised with.
One important point to make, however, is that Marvel Studios loves to avoid story elements that have already been done—at least whenever they can.
This means that since Silver Surfer was already used, the MCU might opt for starting out with a different herald. He’s had plenty before; Firelord, Air-Walker, Terrax, Morg, and more.
Exploring Galactus in the MCU could also lead to some interesting and completely original connections to Marvel Studios’ Eternals and those characters.
Who Will be the Lucky Winner?
While many fans like to laud heroes like Batman or Spider-Man for their S Tier rogues gallery, the Fantastic Four often get criminally overlooked.
With Marvel Studios getting the rights back to the likes of Reed Richards and co., they’ve also now received access to some of these huge cosmic characters who are intrinsically tied to the team - names such as Galactus, Annilihilus, and The Beyonder. So not only will the MCU get some of the most important heroes, but doors can be opened to some serious universe-spanning storylines.
All that to say, whoever Marvel chooses to go up against the Fantastic Four, will likely be meant to play a role far larger than a one-off villain.
So, with that in mind, someone like Galactus seems like a strong contender. Not only is he an important cosmic force of nature, but his arrival, and general existence, could be tied into many different plot lines in the MCU.
Add on his ties to the Silver Surfer, and it’s hard to go any other direction.
However, characters such as Molecule Man and The Beyonder both make sense as well, as the two are directly tied to the various Secret Wars events in the comics. Of course, on a similar note when considering synergy with the wider MCU, any Kang Variants are always a reasonable direction to go in.
While official word on a villain is a long way off, hopefully, the rumor mill will share interesting new information sooner rather than later.
Fantastic Four lands in theaters on February 14, 2025.
