Marvel’s First Family took on some of the most iconic supervillains in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but there are many more antagonists we want them to battle when they return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. First Steps finally introduced the official Fantastic Four team to the MCU after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness teased us with John Krasinski’s doomed Mister Fantastic. Pedro Pascal took over from Krasinski, joined by Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Fantastic Four of Earth 828, but First Steps didn’t only focus on its superheroes.
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Supervillains also took center-stage in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with the Phase 6 movie doing justice to some of Marvel Comics’ most iconic and powerful antagonists. After the planet-eater was wasted in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, First Steps finally depicted a comic-accurate Galactus, played expertly by Ralph Ineson. He was joined by his herald, Shalla-Bal’s Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), and the Fantastic Four fought and mentioned several other villains, too. With sequels inevitable, it would be great to see the Four take on these exciting and formidable Marvel supervillains next.
7) Philip Masters’ Puppet Master
Before the premiere of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there was a lot of speculation that Philip Masters’ Puppet Master would be featured as a minor antagonist. Masters is the step-father of Ben Grimm’s love interest, Alicia Masters, but Grimm became involved with Rachel Rozman (Natasha Lyonne) in First Steps instead. This leaves the door open for the Puppet Master to still oppose the Four, and as one of the team’s original villains from Marvel Comics, who uses radioactive clay to make controllable puppets of various individuals, he’d be the perfect creepy and gritty villain for a First Steps sequel.
6) Maximus the Mad
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness marked the first MCU canon appearance of an Inhuman, with Anson Mount reprising his role of Black Bolt. It’s possible that Inhumans exist in the Fantastic Four’s universe of Earth 828, too, which creates the opportunity for them to go toe-to-toe with Maximus the Mad. Maximus is a twisted member of the Inhuman royal family who originally opposed the Fantastic Four in 1966. He would be a brilliant villain and vehicle to introduce Inhumans to the MCU en masse, especially with his mind control abilities.
5) Reed Richards’ Maker
With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, past versions of Reed Richards could return to the MCU, and one of them could come back as a formidable villain. Notably, Miles Teller’s iteration of Richards from 2015’s Fantastic Four was inspired by Ultimate Marvel’s version of the character, who became the supervillain known as the Maker after a series of traumatic events. There are few people who can oppose Reed Richards in a battle of brains, so it would be incredible to see him go up against his own dark variant, and Secret Wars might make this possible.
4) Annihilus
After Reed Richards worked out how to travel from Earth into the Negative Zone in 1968, he came face-to-face with the Negative Zone’s insect-like ruler, Annihilus. Annihilus became a recurring enemy to the Four after they steal his Cosmic Control Rod to escape, and later became one of Marvel’s most dangerous antagonists by leading his Annihilation Wave into the Marvel Universe to pose a threat to many powerful heroes. Annihilus could be a Saga-spanning villain for the MCU, but it would be great to see him introduced in a smaller-scale story opposite the Fantastic Four, just like in Marvel Comics.
3) Sue Storm’s Malice
Vanessa Kirby has stated her love for the Malice aspect of Sue Storm’s character from Marvel Comics, so it would be brilliant to see this dark side of her persona brought into the MCU. The Malice persona was awakened by Psycho-Man by amplifying Sue Storm’s negative emotions after the trauma of suffering a miscarriage. Malice used Storm’s abilities aggressively, but was soon reverted to normal by Reed Richards inciting true rage in her. It would be very interesting to see the Fantastic Four battle one of their own, and debuting Malice would give Kirby new layers to explore.
2) Ivan Kragoff’s Red Ghost
John Malkovich was supposed to appear as Ivan Kragoff’s Red Ghost in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, even making a brief appearance in a trailer for the movie, but all his scenes were ultimately cut. We hope Malkovich is brought back in future movies, however, and after the Super Apes appeared in a montage and in the animated post-credits scene, it’s very possible this could happen. Red Ghost enhanced his apes by repeating the process that gave the Four their powers, then became one of the Four’s most persistent threats, so he deserves a place in the MCU.
1) Rama-Tut
Kang the Conqueror’s future in the MCU is uncertain after Jonathan Majors’ 2023 arrest, conviction, and firing. If a recast does occur, however, perhaps after the MCU’s reset following Avengers: Secret Wars, a new actor could take over as Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Rama-Tut. The Fantastic Four fought Rama-Tut on a time-traveling adventure, so the same could play out in live-action – a fantastic way to bring Kang back into focus. Majors did play a cybernetic iteration of Rama-Tut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but we’d love the Four to take on an honest-to-goodness Kang variant in the MCU’s future.
What Marvel villains do you want to see battle the Fantastic Four in their future adventures? Let us know in the comments!
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