The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduced fans to the MCU's incarnation of Reed Richards, and Pedro Pascal's take on the character may have paved the way for a dangerous villain to make his debut. Avengers: Doomsday will not only bring Marvel's First Family into contact with the rest of the universe but also a fearsome foe in the form of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. Now that First Steps was officially released, certain lines in the movie might tease that another evildoer could be on his way.
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
After the Fantastic Four return home from their encounter with Galactus and try to formulate a plan to save their world while simultaneously sparing Franklin, Reed briefly entertains the idea of handing over his son to the world devourer. He then explains to an understandably upset Sue Storm that, while his mind goes to the worst possible outcomes and the darkest possible solutions to the problems they are facing, he would never actually consider going through with them.
Establishing that Reed does toy with dark, evil, and twisted thoughts, but how he doesn’t act on them, could subtly set up the existence of a Reed Variant who does choose to act on them. In Marvel Comics, such a version of Reed Richards does exist, who goes by the moniker of The Maker.
The Maker comes from the first incarnation of the comics' Ultimate universe. He starts out as a benevolent take on Mr. Fantastic before a series of tragic life events turn him into a cold, calculating shell of his former self who wants to control the universe, not solve its problems.
This version of Reed also plays a major part in the Secret Wars storyline in the comics, possibly indicating that Marvel Studios is sowing the seeds in First Steps so that The Maker can be introduced in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars to turn another fan-favorite hero into a villain. This would line up with a rumor that Variants will play a part in Doomsday as secondary villains to Doom, ushering the way for The Maker to then steal the spotlight in Secret Wars.
Directed by Matt Shakman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place outside of the usual Marvel Cinematic Universe to debut Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The four are faced with the threat of planet-eating villain Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), the latter of whom could have a bright future ahead in the MCU.
Why The Maker Could Be Avengers' Most Dangerous Villain Yet
If brought into the fold, The Maker could be one of the most dangerous foes that the Avengers will have to face. With the MCU now adapting Secret Wars in its next two team-up movies, there's a good chance that an evil Reed could appear.
In the 2015 comic run, incursions start destroying universes, so The Maker teams up with the evil supervillain group, the Cabal, to decimate worlds on their own accord in order to protect the Ultimate universe. Once the Multiverse falls apart, the Cabal travels to Doctor Doom's newly created Battleworld, where The Maker is eventually forced to work together with his other self. This alliance is broken when the two arrive at Doom's power source, where The Maker betrays Reed.
Possessing the mighty intellect of Reed Richards, knowledge of what makes so many Marvel heroes tick, and a detached mindset that means no act is off-limits, leads to The Maker being a formidable foe for the Avengers.
Even though he has been defeated multiple times, he always finds a way back, most recently to create the new Ultimate universe. It's long been speculated that Secret Wars will establish a universe that ties in many of the disparate elements of the MCU, with the Russo brothers even teasing that the event will act as a "new beginning."
If a new universe is formulated starting with Phase 7, what if The Maker is the one ruling over it all, similarly to how he orchestrated the new Ultimate universe? This could set up a new overarching, big bad, to which audiences already have a predisposed emotional connection. And with Pedro Pascal playing him, he would certainly make for a villain that fans will love to hate (or hate to love).
