Director Matt Shakman recently explained why The Fantastic Four: First Steps will not feature Doctor Doom as its primary villain and revealed Marvel’s surprising plans for the character. Shakman confirmed that Robert Downey Jr. will only debut as Doom in Avengers: Doomsday while discussing the direction of his upcoming film. His comments reveal new insight into Marvel’s evolving multiverse strategy and how the studio plans to introduce the iconic villain.
Matt Shakman reveals why Galactus was chosen as the villain over Doctor Doom
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Matt Shakman explained, “Doom’s a great character, but he takes up a lot of air. Other film adaptations have done both an origin story and Doom. We’re doing neither, and that allows us to look at them from a fresh perspective.”
Instead of introducing Victor Von Doom in the forthcoming Fantastic Four reboot, Marvel Studios is saving him for future films. Robert Downey Jr. will portray Doom in Avengers: Doomsday (2026), in which First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will reprise their roles. This aligns with broader changes in Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, which restructured plans after Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was rebranded to Avengers: Doomsday.
This decision marks a shift from previous Fantastic Four films, where Doom was consistently the central villain. The 2005 and 2015 iterations both incorporated Doom into the team’s origin story, a pattern Shakman deliberately avoided. He emphasized the creative opportunity of not retreading familiar ground, stating the choice freed up space to reintroduce the Fantastic Four with a unique narrative direction.
Although Galactus appears in First Steps, Shakman avoided full motion-capture, opting to “have someone there embodying the part.” Ralph Ineson wears practical armor in the role.
Pedro Pascal, who plays Reed Richards, described the threat of Galactus as “a scale of threat which Reed has never experienced,” noting, “Even the smartest man in the world is awestruck by a being that outdates his understanding of time.”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will premiere on July 25, 2025.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.
