Is Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom In Fantastic Four: First Steps? Here's What The Director Says

Doctor Doom is one of the most noteworthy and beloved villains ever to grace the pages of a comic book. While he's become a larger fixture in the larger Marvel Comics universe over the decades since his creation, Victor Von Doom is most closely associated with the Fantastic Four as their arch-nemesis. Naturally, that will lead certain fans to wonder if former "Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is going to appear in this summer's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." Well, director Matt Shakman has weighed in on the topic multiple times, and his answers don't leave much room for interpretation.

Shakman, who is best known for his work on "WandaVision," spoke with Entertainment Weekly back in April, previewing the much-anticipated "Fantastic Four" reboot within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When addressing the Doctor Doom of it all (or lack thereof), Shakman made it pretty clear the esteemed evil-doer won't be the focus of his movie. Here's what he had to say about it:

"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."

Indeed, Doctor Doom was the primary villain in 2005's "Fantastic Four," a movie Downey actually auditioned for well before he went on to become the MCU's Tony Stark. The character also appeared in the film's 2007 follow-up, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," before serving as a fixture in 2015's much-maligned "Fantastic Four" reboot, so it's obvious Shakman wanted to divert from that. To make that crystal clear, Shakman was even more blunt when he spoke with Empire Magazine more recently (via Game Rant), stating, "Doom is not a part of my film, and therefore not a part of my preview."

While that EW interview might have left some room for doubt, Shakman's more recent comments are far more ironclad. If we are to take the director at his word, viewers should not expect to get a first taste of Downey's Doom in "Fantastic Four: First Steps" before he truly arrives in next year's "Avengers: Doomsday."

That having been said, there are some things to consider here. For one, previous reports have suggested Downey could appear briefly as Doom in "First Steps." If we are to believe that might still be true, it's likely that Shakman is pulling an Andrew Garfield in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and just straight-up lying about it. There's also a possibility that Doom only shows up in a post-credits sequence of some kind, which Shakman might not consider part of his film. That would leave just the tiniest bit of wiggle room.

If that is the case, Shakman's framing of this would be true in the sense that the movie itself isn't going to feature Doom as a focal point. Rather, we know that Galactus is going to be the primary villain in the film, with Ralph Ineson ("Nosferatu") portraying the character and Julia Garner ("Ozark") co-starring as a version of the Silver Surfer. Adding Doom into the mix would feel like one too many ingredients.

As for the core cast, Pedro Pascal ("The Mandalorian") is on board as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, with Vanessa Kirby ("Mission: Impossible –  Dead Reckoning") as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Bear") as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things") as Johnny Storm/Human Torch. All four of these actors are part of the massive "Avengers: Doomsday" cast as well, so we'll get to see them mix it up with Downey's Doctor Doom eventually.

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" hits theaters on July 25, 2025.