The Fantastic Four end credits explained: Robert Downey Jr's Avengers Doomsday is coming

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is out today in cinemas and concludes with two end credits scenes.

The post-credits scene shows off the tie-in cartoon of Marvel's First Family in their Earth-828 universe. But it's the mid-credits one that had fans gasping at the introduction of Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom.

The Marvel legend returns as the Thanos-level villain in next year's Avengers Doomsday and 2027's Avengers Secret Wars.

In the sequence, we don't see his face, but the hooded Doom holds his mask as he kidnaps the toddler Franklin Graham.

Interestingly, this ties in with a recent rumoured plot leak for Avengers Doomsday.

Just like Galactus, Doom wants Franklin for his power, which is explored in the Marvel Comics. The son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm is one of the most powerful characters in the superhero multiverse. His primary power is the ability to warp reality, meaning he can alter the fabric of everything up to a multiverse scale, including the reconstruction or destruction of timelines. It also appears that Latveria's ruler, Doom, is part of Earth-828, following a shot of his country's empty seat at the start of the movie.

No doubt Franklin will play a major role in Avengers Doomsday, which will see the Earth-616 superheroes colliding with the Earth-828 Fantastic Four and the 2000s X-Men cast. The latter was teased in the end credits of The Marvels when Monica Rambeau woke up in their universe being overseen by Kelsey Grammer's Beast. Meanwhile, the Thunderbolts' end credits scene featured the Fantastic Four's ship entering Earth-616.

Avengers Doomsday hits cinemas on December 18, 2026.