7 Characters Who Could Appear In ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

Just as viewers excitedly awaited the release of The Avengers, Black Panther, Infinity War, or Spider-Man: No Way Home, most people can’t help but express avid enthusiasm at the idea of seeing a film like The Fantastic Four: First Steps debuting in cinemas this coming July.

A superhero adaptation Marvel fans have been anxiously awaiting for just under two decades, The Fantastic Four: First Steps marks the epic debut of the titular superhuman team within the larger MCU. 

As viewers continue to speculate about specific plot details regarding the movie’s narrative, it’s worth wondering which characters from the Fantastic Four’s comic book past might pop up in First Steps, be it fairly campy alien supervillains or a certain iron-masked Latverian monarch set to be the next big bad of Marvel’s shared universe.

Annihilus

The Fantastic Four has plenty of easily recognizable villains that make up their rogues’ gallery, from the mammoth-sized Galactus to the malevolent Doctor Doom. Nestled somewhere among this body of supervillains is the somewhat lesser-known but still well-loved alien ruler, Annihilus. An insectoid creature with advanced intelligence, an extraterrestrial army, and a desire to destroy anything he deems a threat to his continued existence (I.E. everything), there’s a distinct possibility Annihilus might serve a role in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, no matter how relatively slim his screen-time might be.

Impossible Man

Compared to the existential threat to existence that takes the form of Galactus or Annihilus, Impossible Man isn’t exactly a “serious” supervillain to contend with. An overarching comic relief character, his role in Fantastic Four is mostly relegated to mocking the quartet in their adventures across the known universe. A shapeshifting alien who hails from the planet Poppup, the Impossible Man is almost guaranteed never to fill the role of a main villain in a Fantastic Four film – but at the very least, he could figure into First Steps in a smaller supporting role, perhaps comically annoying the Fantastic Four as he does so often in the comics.

Red Ghost

Though he’s seldom portrayed in the same comedic light as the aforementioned Impossible Man, the Red Ghost is yet another fairly kitschier comic book villain from the Fantastic Four’s earlier years. Simply put, this 1960s comic book villain appears as a patriotic U.S.S.R. scientist who trains and transforms three intelligent primates (a gorilla, a baboon, and an orangutan) to do his bidding. While that idea might sound silly on paper, we can certainly imagine the endless creative possibilities that come from presenting the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes in live-action, whether portraying them in a more straightforward or comedic manner.

Maker

A relatively newer villain in the comic book pages of Fantastic Four, Maker serves as an alternative iteration of Reed Richards. Whereas the regular Mister Fantastic uses his vast intelligence for peace and justice in the universe, the Maker relies on his intellect for more nefarious purposes, leading him into constant battles with Marvel’s altruistic heroes. With how much time the MCU has spent building the Multiverse in recent years, it wouldn’t be at all surprising for First Steps to feature this twisted duplicate of Mister Fantastic, similar to previous Multiverse-spanning MCU villains like Kang or Cassandra Nova before him.

Alicia Masters

Alicia Masters is probably the most important Marvel character most people have seldom heard of. A close friend to the Fantastic Four and the emotional confidante and love interest to The Thing, she’s also one of the group’s most loyal allies and collaborators, producing numerous realistic sculptures of the quartet from touch and memory alone. Not only does she provide an outlet for The Thing to vent his frustrations about his altered physical state, she also aids the Silver Surfer in developing a fundamental understanding of humanity, helping Galactus’s herald transition from extraterrestrial wanderer to a far more benevolent traveler of the cosmos.

Mole Man

The first villain to ever confront the Fantastic Four in Marvel Comics, it’s only fitting that Mole Man figures into The Fantastic Four: First Steps in some way, shape, or form. The underground ruler of Subterranea (a vast hidden world buried beneath the Earth’s crust), the Mole Man’s foremost goal is to invade the surface world with the aid of his Moloid servants. Though certainly a silly-sounding character in theory, the Mole Man has become something of a cult-favorite villain among more knowledgeable Marvel fans, with some viewers fervently crossing their fingers in the hopes this ornery, technologically-advanced subterranean warlord might appear in First Steps.

Doctor Doom

Above all else, viewers can maintain zealous hopes for the official debut for Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom in TheFantastic Four: First Steps. The iconic archenemy of the Marvel superhero team, Doctor Doom is also currently being billed as the next overarching villain of the MCU, making RDJ’s return to the franchise that much more enticing. Whether he appears in a small role or merely pops in a post-credit sequence (the latter being far more likely), any glimpse of the good doctor ahead of his appearance in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday will be an assuredly welcome sight.