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For years, one detail has remained consistent across most versions of the Fantastic Four story.
Whether fans were reading comics, watching animated series, or sitting in theaters for previous movie adaptations, Victor von Doom usually played some role in the events that transformed Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm into Marvel’s First Family.
That tradition appears to be changing.
A newly released Marvel tie-in comic has officially altered the origin story established for The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), and the changes could reveal a much bigger strategy taking shape inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More importantly, it suggests Marvel Studios may be actively replacing several of Doctor Doom’s traditional connections to the Fantastic Four with entirely different characters.
The move has sparked plenty of discussion among fans who are already trying to piece together how Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom will fit into the MCU moving forward.
Marvel Changes the Fantastic Four Origin Again
While The Fantastic Four: First Steps largely avoided spending significant time on the team’s origin story, audiences learned that Reed Richards and his family gained their powers during a government-backed mission that exposed them to cosmic radiation.
The film intentionally skipped many of the details, allowing Marvel Studios to focus on the established team rather than revisiting an origin story that audiences have already seen multiple times.
However, the new comic Fantastic Four: First Foes #1 expands on those events and introduces a surprising twist.
According to the comic, Reed Richards wasn’t working alone when planning the mission that ultimately changed his life. Instead, one of his former professors, Doctor René Rodin, played a major role in helping make the expedition possible. After the accident, Rodin eventually becomes the Mad Thinker, one of the Fantastic Four’s longtime comic book villains.
That may sound like a relatively minor adjustment, but longtime Marvel fans immediately noticed something significant.
Many of the story elements assigned to Rodin closely resemble relationships that traditionally belonged to Doctor Doom.
Doctor Doom’s Role Has Been Given to Someone Else
Historically, Doctor Doom and Reed Richards have shared a complicated history.
In numerous comic continuities, the two brilliant minds crossed paths long before becoming enemies. Their rivalry often stems from academic competition, clashing egos, and intellectual disagreements that eventually evolve into one of Marvel’s greatest feuds.
Marvel’s latest MCU backstory appears to hand several of those characteristics to the Mad Thinker instead.
The comic establishes that Rodin knew Reed before the accident, worked alongside him professionally, contributed to the mission, and later developed resentment toward Reed’s success and public admiration.
Sound familiar?
Those are exactly the kinds of narrative beats that have traditionally helped define Reed and Doom’s relationship.
Instead of positioning Victor von Doom as the genius rival whose jealousy drives him toward villainy, Marvel appears to be using the Mad Thinker as that figure within this version of the Fantastic Four’s history.
It’s a notable departure from previous adaptations.
Previous Fantastic Four Movies Always Included Doom
The change becomes even more interesting when looking at earlier Fantastic Four films.
In Fantastic Four (2005), Victor von Doom directly participated in the space mission that exposed the team to cosmic radiation. He also helped fund the project and influenced key decisions that contributed to the accident.
A decade later, Fantastic Four (2015) took inspiration from Marvel’s Ultimate Universe and once again placed Doom at the center of the team’s transformation. The characters worked together on an interdimensional experiment before everything went horribly wrong.
Even in comic book alternate universes, Doom frequently remains connected to the event that creates the Fantastic Four.
The MCU is taking a different path.
Rather than making Doom part of the origin, Marvel appears to be removing him from that chapter altogether.
Where Was Doctor Doom?
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding The Fantastic Four: First Steps was the near-total absence of Doctor Doom.
Despite the Fantastic Four already operating as heroes for several years, Doom is never directly mentioned throughout the film. Fans only receive vague hints that he may exist somewhere in the background.
Meanwhile, numerous other Fantastic Four villains receive references or acknowledgments.
Mole Man is discussed. Puppet Master gets mentioned. The Wizard, Diablo, Red Ghost, and Mad Thinker all receive attention.
Doctor Doom does not.
That’s unusual considering Doom is arguably the most important villain in Fantastic Four history.
The silence has led many fans to develop theories about Marvel’s larger plans.
The MCU May Be Rewriting Doom Completely
The new origin details suggest Marvel Studios may be intentionally distancing Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four’s established history.
Instead of introducing him as Reed Richards’ longtime rival, Marvel may be building an entirely different version of the character for the MCU.
That possibility becomes especially important when considering Robert Downey Jr.’s upcoming role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).
Marvel has remained extremely secretive about Doom’s origins, motivations, and connections to other characters. If the studio wanted audiences to immediately associate Doom with Reed Richards, the simplest solution would have been to include him in the Fantastic Four’s backstory.
Instead, Marvel appears to be doing the opposite.
By transferring several classic Doom story elements to the Mad Thinker, the studio may be preparing audiences for a Doctor Doom who arrives from a different universe, emerges later in this timeline, or has an entirely unique history compared to his comic counterpart.
What It Means for Avengers: Doomsday
For now, fans are left with more questions than answers.
Will Reed Richards and Victor von Doom already know each other when Avengers: Doomsday arrives?
Will Marvel reveal that Doom has been operating in secret all along?
Or has the MCU completely rewritten one of the most famous rivalries in comic book history?
What makes the new Fantastic Four retcon so fascinating isn’t simply that Marvel changed an origin story. Comic book adaptations do that all the time.
The bigger story is what Marvel removed.
For decades, Doctor Doom has been deeply tied to the Fantastic Four’s beginnings. Now, Marvel has seemingly replaced him with another villain entirely.
Whether that’s a temporary diversion or the foundation for a radically different MCU future remains one of the biggest questions surrounding Marvel’s next phase.
