Fantastic Four: First Steps Post Credit Scene Explained: Why Doctor Doom Wants Franklin Richards

The Fantastic Four: First Steps post credit scene introduced Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue, as one of the most important characters in the MCU. It also revealed that Galactus was not the only one who wanted him: Doctor Doom wants him too. When I wrote this in July 2025, the film had just been released, and Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were still ahead.

My view at the time was that Franklin would have an extremely important role in both of those films. I also believed he would be key to the reset of the MCU and to the new beginning that brings the X-Men into it. In the film, Franklin has so much power that Galactus wanted him so he could hunger no more.

Franklin Richards is four years older and already choosing his own books

The scene opens by telling us that it is four years later. Baby Franklin has grown up a little. He can talk a bit and he can understand stories, and his mother is reading to him. The book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, which many people will know.

They finish it and Sue asks, "You want another book, don't you?" Franklin says yes, and she tells him, "All right, back in a second, babe." As she gets up, she asks Herbie if he has seen the book Franklin loves, and Herbie grabs The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, a book about evolution.

The Origin of Species hints that Franklin is further along the evolutionary path

In the comics, Franklin is an omega level mutant. You could argue that makes him further along with evolution, because he is a mutant of immense power. That is at least how he is in the comics, and in the MCU he clearly is a being with immense power too.

It also seems that Franklin is still very smart at his age, because Sue says: "Not that one. We did that one yesterday. I know he loves it, but no." Of course, this could simply mean he likes some of the pictures, such as the birds. But considering who he is, I would argue he probably does have a decent understanding, at least in his mind, if not vocally. He has a very advanced mind. In the comics he can create pocket universes as a child, so even then he was incredibly powerful and smart. Sue wants something more fun, though, and picks A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock.

A humming teleport and a green hood announce Doctor Doom

As Sue walks back to Franklin, we hear a noise that is not just the music. It sounds like a teleportation device, a sort of humming. Then the music changes drastically, becoming more mysterious and ominous. Fittingly, the track is titled Doom.

As she makes her way around the TV and fireplace, she sees a hooded figure. The hood is green, and we look down to see a mask in the figure's hand. This is Doctor Doom. We do not see his face, but we are assuming this is Robert Downey Jr.'s Doom. Marvel officially announced that Downey was returning to the MCU not primarily as Iron Man, although I thought we would probably get a cameo from a variant Iron Man played by him at some point. He was returning as Victor Von Doom, the villain and main character of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, and he is there because he wants Franklin.

Could Franklin be healing Doctor Doom's scarred face?

What is interesting is that we see Franklin touching Victor's face, which is badly scarred. The best known comic story behind those scars involves the death of his mother and Mephisto, the demon who rules over the hell dimension and who was introduced in the Ironheart series. When Cynthia Von Doom dies, Mephisto takes her soul to the hell realm. Victor builds a device to communicate with her, but it goes wrong and explodes in his face.

I have seen a lot of people suggest that Franklin is healing his face in this scene, because Marvel Studios is not paying Robert Downey Jr. over $100 million for Doomsday and Secret Wars to cover up his face most of the time. The scars are a big part of who Doom is, but there is a premise for this in the 2015 Secret Wars comic, the version Marvel Studios is basically drawing on. At the very end, as they try to restore the multiverse, Doom removes his mask and reveals his face has been healed. Perhaps we get a variant of that moment in the films, or perhaps Franklin heals him with that touch.

Is this Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four's Earth 828?

One thing that was not certain is whether this Doom actually comes from the 828 universe. When the world leaders meet at the Future Foundation, there is an empty seat with a sign for Latveria, where Victor is from and which he goes on to rule. That seat could be for this universe's ruler of Latveria, or it could just be a nod to Doom because he appears after the credits.

We were not sure, but I do like the idea of him being from this universe, because then we could get a lot of backstory between Reed and Doom. In the 2015 Secret Wars, the final battle comes down to those two, and Doom is not only one of the most iconic Marvel villains but specifically the biggest Fantastic Four villain. Plus, going into Doomsday, when a lot of people will not know who Victor Von Doom is, Mr. Fantastic could fill everybody in.

Doom also has a very complicated relationship with the family over time. In the comics, when Sue is pregnant with her second child and has labour complications, Victor saves her and the baby, naming the girl Valeria after a woman he formerly loved. There would be a lot of deep stories between him and that child, so although he is one of their biggest villains, he is not always a complete villain to them.

Doctor Doom wants Franklin's power to reshape the multiverse

We have already seen that Franklin can essentially resurrect people, and he does this in the comics too. In one of the most epic comic scenes there is, he resurrects Galactus and makes him his herald. That immense power is the primary reason Doom wants him.

As for Doom's plan, the inspiration is again the 2015 Secret Wars. In the lead up, Doom actually tries to save the multiverse. He learns that the Beyonders, godlike beings, have put a Molecule Man in every universe as a bomb, planning to set them all off at once. Doom and another Molecule Man start killing Molecule Men across universes, but that causes incursions, where two universes collide and destroy one or both. Realising they cannot save it, Doom attacks the Beyonders with Molecule Man and Doctor Strange, steals their powers through Molecule Man and creates Battleworld, one world made of many universes at the end of the multiverse, ruling it as God Emperor Doom.

Doom wanting Franklin for his powers makes a lot of sense, because we probably will not get the Beyonders in the MCU.

The Thunderbolts scene may show the family chasing Franklin to a Tony Stark universe

Doom taking Franklin probably ties into the Thunderbolts post credit scene, where the Fantastic Four's ship enters Earth 616, the sacred timeline. They most likely go there in search of their son. I thought they might end up there specifically because of Tony Stark.

Bringing back Downey to play Doom was very intentional, and we know they are going to address the fact that he looks exactly like Tony Stark. So maybe, if the family has never seen Doom before, Sue gets a good look at his face in this scene and it looks exactly like Tony Stark. They then track down a Tony Stark universe, even though he is no longer alive in ours.

The X-Men universe was also set to be involved in Doomsday, with returning X-Men like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen already announced. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, confirmed that all the teams would come together against Doom: the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Wakandans and any other heroes in the film.

Loki's place on the throne stands between Doom and Battleworld

All of this leads to the TVA and Loki, who is holding the entire multiverse together. If the multiverse is destroyed in Doomsday, leading to Battleworld and Secret Wars, Loki unfortunately has to be dethroned. Either he gets knocked off that throne and separated from the strands of the universes, or perhaps Doom kills him. I hope that is not the case.

According to some rumours I had heard, the Avengers race to reach Loki before Doom once they discover his plans, and they all fight him to keep him from getting to Loki. Whatever happens, I was pretty sure Doomsday would end with the multiverse destroyed and Victor creating Battleworld, leading into Secret Wars and God Emperor Doom.

Franklin Richards could be how the MCU reset happens

Kevin Feige officially confirmed that Secret Wars will reset the main MCU timeline, so there will essentially be a new universe afterwards. That is where Franklin comes in again. In the comics, even as a baby he could create universes, and at the end of Secret Wars the multiverse is restored through Franklin creating the universes.

Marvel made a point of introducing Franklin in the first MCU Fantastic Four film, showing how powerful he is, and having Doom come to take him for himself. "I'm pretty sure that's how the reset happens." My expectation was that they use Franklin's power to restore at least one universe, a new one with the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and basically any character Marvel can now use. First Steps really did set up so much for Doomsday, Secret Wars and the MCU that follows.

Would you like it if Franklin turned out to be the one who heals Doctor Doom's face?