Marvel Reveals Fantastic Four and Avengers Titles, Plus the Identity of Their Next Big Villain, at SDCC

Movies

Now, for the biggies. Marvel talked about the upcoming releases they desperately need to get right, and one of the reveals – the big one – had me cursing up a storm at how far something I once loved like few other franchises has fallen. First, though, let’s talk Fantastic Four. The film has a new title, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which… okay. The Four themselves will be a part of the next two Avengers movies, and based on descriptions of the footage shown, the film will depict their origin, which will be more traditional than the one in their last cinematic outing. The Thing, who is played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, will be motion-capture, which I think we all assumed. And, as was already known, Galactus will be the villain, played by Ralph Ineson.

Official title The Fantastic Four First Steps pic.twitter.com/iSonag2V5u

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 28, 2024

What a boring title for a superhero movie. I imagine they’re trying to invoke both Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars and Nick Fury’s line to Tony Stark at the end of Iron Man, with the Fantastic Four becoming “part of a bigger universe” as they make their MCU debut, but come on; that’s a lousy title. Where in that do you get the sense that the Four are going to face a threat as massive as Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds? I know Marvel loves its subtitles, but they used to be cool ones like The Dark World or The Winter Soldier. First Steps is blander than Corn Flakes, and for a movie they need to get people excited to see, you’d think they’d try to make it something badass or mysterious. On that score, I still think it’s a mistake to waste Galactus so early; he’s a cosmic threat that needs to be built to, not a one-off nobody they can dispose of in the origin film. Galactus should be the final villain of at least one Phase. The Thing being motion-capture makes sense, and I hope Marvel makes him look good. And I’m glad they’re going with the classic origin for the Four, or at least it sounds like they are. I really want this movie to be great, but I’m expecting the worst, if only to spare myself disappointment.

The Fantastic Four First Steps cast is here! Pedro, Vanessa, Joseph & Ebon #SDCC pic.twitter.com/NTQYfWPTGZ

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 28, 2024

Now, we get to the next two Avengers movies; take a deep breath, folks, because Marvel is about to show you desperation like you’ve never seen before. First of all, the story about the Russo Brothers returning to direct them was right on the money, as Kevin Feige brought out the directors of some of their biggest hits. The fifth Avengers movie is no longer The Kang Dynasty and will not be about Kang the Conqueror; it is now called Avengers: Doomsday and will find Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – or whatever dollar store version of them Marvel cooks up – facing Doctor Doom. The next one will still be Avengers: Secret Wars. This is all good in theory: introduce the Fantastic Four, bring in Doctor Doom, and set the stage for Secret Wars, where these characters are all key components of the story.

Avengers Doomsday May 2026 Avengers Secret Wars May 2027 pic.twitter.com/UWlUy4TOPS

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 28, 2024

Then, Marvel screwed up so spectacularly I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Russo Brothers were surrounded on stage by a bunch of people dressed like Doctor Doom, and Joe Russo announced that they would need “the greatest actor in the world” to play perhaps the greatest Marvel villain of them all. So, from the many, one Doctor Doom stepped forward and unmasked himself, and it was… well, see for yourself below:

Robert Downey Jr as Victor Von Doom for Avengers Doomsday pic.twitter.com/6kNmsN2y9h

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 28, 2024

If you want to see what my first reaction to this was, here it is, copied and pasted: “You gotta be fucking kidding me.” They’re bringing back Robert Downey Jr., the man who built the Marvel Cinematic Universe as much as anyone, and he’s not playing Tony Stark; he’s playing Doctor Doom. Is there an ounce of creativity left at Marvel Studios? This is the most transparent Hail Mary play I’ve ever seen. I’m gonna rant for a bit because I’m angrier than I thought Marvel could make me at this point. Robert Downey Jr. is synonymous with Tony Stark; you cannot bring him back as someone else. And I don’t mean that this is a disservice to Stark (it is, but that’s not the biggest problem); this is a disservice to Doctor Doom. Marvel is not even bothering to find the right actor for this role like they used to do. These were the guys who thought outside the box, who got an unemployable has-been to play the lead in their first movie and turned him into a cultural icon, who got the schlubby guy from Parks and Recreation to be the lead of their cosmic super team and made him a star, who took someone known for playing modern California dude-types and made him the embodiment of the American Spirit from World War II and made it feel like he was the only choice. What the hell happened to them? Where’s the imagination and ingenuity from the “House of Ideas”? Now, everyone will look at Doctor Doom and see a gimmick instead of the supervillain by which all others are measured.

And that’s exactly what this is: a gimmick. It’s pretty clear how this is going to be possible. Kevin Feige suggested that The Fantastic Four: First Steps would take place in an alternate universe. So Victor Von Doom from that world will almost certainly be a multiversal variant of Tony Stark, a scientific genius gone evil. In other words, this is the very worst of the multiverse, a shortcut bypassing creativity. Why think of the perfect actor to portray Doctor Doom when they can just dust off Robert Downey Jr. and shout “Multiverse!” and be done with it? Marvel has learned nothing from the failures of the multiverse as a concept. Watching Deadpool & Wolverine, I had some hope that they’d finally realized how poorly they’d executed it. But nope, it’s full steam ahead with variants and the laziness of reusing old actors in new roles. And it didn’t have to be this way; the multiverse can work as a concept. Rick and Morty uses the multiverse brilliantly because it’s always in service of deepening the characters and exploring humanity and the notion of the self. With the exception of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel uses it as a crutch to avoid doing something new or interesting, to cheapen characters by making the point that there are an infinite number of them, each as good as the next. That’s the exact opposite point that Rick and Morty makes, and that’s why the multiverse works on that show and not in the MCU. Here we are again, with Marvel blowing a wonderful opportunity by shoving the familiar down the audience’s throat in the cheapest way possible. (Well, in terms of creativity, anyway; I doubt Robert Downey Jr. is doing this for peanuts.)

And I don’t mean this as a judgment on Downey’s acting ability; I have no doubt he could play a great Doctor Doom in a vacuum. But he’s not in a vacuum; he’s Iron Man. He was – and maybe still is – the face of the MCU. You can’t mess with that like Marvel is doing now. I mean, what’s the future for Doctor Doom? This is a villain that faces pretty much every Marvel hero at some point; going up against Doom is like a badge of honor. Do you really think Robert Downey Jr. will be playing this role beyond Secret Wars? No, and Marvel is now at a place where they don’t care. They’re not thinking about anything beyond the movies they’ve announced, and while that’s good in certain ways, it’s bad when it plays out like this. What a waste of a great actor and an amazing character. It’s depressing thinking about what this franchise has become.