Fantastic Four’s Vanessa Kirby Confirms What Actor Was in the Post-Credits Scene

July 27, 2025, 2:04pm

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.] Vanessa Kirby is getting transparent about that Fantastic Four: First Steps mid-credits scene. Four years after Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (Kirby), Johnny Storm/the Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) save Earth 828 from being consumed by the planet-devouring Galactus (Ralph Ineson), Sue comes face-to-face with the quartet’s next threat: Doctor Doom.

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A four-year time jump sets the credits scene in 1969, where Franklin Richards, first-born son of the cosmically-altered Reed and Sue, is now four years old. When robot sidekick H.E.R.B.I.E. (Matthew Wood) recommends Sue read Franklin Darwin’s Origin of Species, she steps out of the room to retrieve a children’s book. She returns to find Doctor Doom, the face plate of his iron mask in hand, kneeling in front of Franklin.

Before the scene cuts to black, we see the toddler — who possesses the Power Cosmic, a fraction of the power that Galactus grants his heralds, including the Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) — reaching out to touch the unmasked face of Victor von Doom, seen in profile with a green cloak concealing his (presumably) disfigured visage. The film ends with the words: “The Fantastic Four will return in Avengers: Doomsday.”

Kirby confirms in a new interview that the credits scene, which was directed by Avengers: Doomsday helmers Anthony and Joe Russo, marked Robert Downey Jr.’s uncredited first appearance as Doctor Doom in the MCU.

“Robert’s never not been on set. He’s always there. He is our leader,” Kirby told Variety about the former Iron Man actor. “We call him our Godfather. He’s looked after us. It’s such a joy working with the Russos and him, because they’ve had such deep collaboration for so long.”

“And it’s been amazing being pregnant and working on Avengers,” she added. “I felt so inspired and so relieved that I’ve been so taken care of. It’s been a really beautiful journey. Robert is just doing incredible work. I’m so excited.”

The Russos also directed the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene, which showed the New Avengers — Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Bob (Lewis Pullman) — be alerted to the Fantastic Four’s ship, the Excelsior, entering Earth’s atmosphere in the Sacred Timeline.

As Doomsday‘s leading man, Downey receives top billing among a cast that includes Kirby and her Fantastic Four co-stars Pascal, Quinn, and Moss-Bachrach; plus Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and Paul Rudd as Ant-Man. Along with the aforementioned New Avengers, the cast features Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Mabel Cadena as Namora, Alex Livinalli as Attuma, Channing Tatum as Gambit, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Benedict Wong as Wong, and returning X-Men franchise stars Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Kelsey Grammer as Beast.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing only in theaters. Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to release in theaters on December 18, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on Dec. 17, 2027.