The Marvel Cinematic Universe has experienced significant power creep in recent years. Over the past decade, the MCU has had a hero so powerful in Hulk that they had to remove him from the world’s most significant battle, then nerf him in the sequel to even the odds. Captain Marvel was so powerful that the company had to keep her away from Earth to allow Thanos a chance to win in Avengers: Infinity War. Since then, the extremely powerful Eternals have been MIA since their introduction, and then Sentry debuted, but the MCU had to nerf him by making him afraid to use his powers. Now, the first Omega-level mutant might have appeared before the X-Men even arrived.
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While The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ debut on Disney+ might have introduced the MCU’s first Omega-level mutant in Franklin Richards, the situation might be a little more complicated than that.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Brings Franklin Richards to the MCU
The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally debuted on Disney+ on Wednesday, November 5. This will allow anyone who missed the movie in theaters to finally see the introduction of Marvel’s First Family into the MCU. The end of Thunderbolts* showed the FF arriving on the MCU Earth, and this means that the team and the young Franklin Richards will show up and change everything in the MCU.
From all accounts, Avengers: Doomsday will feature two Avengers teams on the MCU Earth (the former Thunderbolts and Sam Wilson’s Avengers) battling a combination of the Fantastic Four and X-Men, as the two teams arrive from their own multiversal Earths. However, if the MCU goes with some old Marvel storylines, it sounds like the X-Men won’t be the only mutants in the battle. For many years, Franklin Richards was an Omega-level mutant and one of the most powerful characters in all of comics.
This could play into the next movie as well, with the post-credit scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps seeing Doctor Doom talking to young Franklin Richards. Doom needs to find someone with immense power to help him create Battleworld for Avengers: Secret Wars. Since the Molecule Man hasn’t debuted in Marvel Comics yet (other than the animated Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur), Franklin Richards could fit that role as an ultra-powerful Omega-level mutant.
Is Franklin Richards Really An Omega-Level Mutant?
Of course, this is possible even if Franklin Richards is not an Omega-level mutant in Avengers: Doomsday. It’s important to clarify that Marvel Comics has retconned Franklin’s status as an Omega-level mutant during the Krakoa Era. Franklin lost his powers after using too much of them in a battle, and when he tried to get to Krakoa for help, Professor X blocked his entry. According to Xavier, Franklin has never been a mutant. Instead, he wanted to fit in so badly that he altered his own DNA to look like he was a mutant. If anything, this is stolen valor, but Franklin was so desperate that he even forced himself to believe it was true.
That said, Franklin is still one of the most powerful characters in all Marvel Comics. He was born in the Negative Zone in the comics, and since his parents both had cosmic powers, he was born with immense powers. He actually has the power to create entire worlds and civilizations, and there are countless planets in the multiverse that Franklin formed with his mind, and whose residents consider him their God since he created their entire species. That could aid Doctor Doom dramatically in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Franklin wasn’t born in the Negative Zone; he was born in space, returning from Galactus’s ship, which could play into him gaining powers from his parents. The movie even showed what appeared to be Franklin bringing his mother back from the dead after the battle with Galactus. Not only that, but Galactus wanted Franklin to help him (or eventually replace him), and Doctor Doom has an interest in him as well. Franklin might not be an Omega-level mutant in the MCU, but whether he is or not, he will quickly become the most powerful character there.
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