Marvel Studios is reportedly keeping Doctor Doom in the sidelines for its Fantastic Four movie.

According to reporter Jeff Sneider, Doctor Doom won’t be the villain of the Fantastic Four movie from Marvel Studios. Instead, Kevin Feige and the rest of the people behind the movie plan to introduce the character through its post-credits scene, setting up his Marvel Cinematic Universe future. Sneider broke the news during an episode of his Hot Mic podcast with John Rocha.

Doctor Doom was the villain of the last three Fantastic Four movies, which were released in 2005, 2007 and 2015, respectively. Julian McMahon was the first actor to bring the character to life in a live-action format, appearing in the two Fantastic Four movies from Tim Story. McMahon was replaced by Toby Kebbell for the last Fantastic Four movie from Josh Trank.

Recent reports suggested that Doctor Doom would be making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which opens in theaters next month. Those reports were shut down ahead of the film’s world premiere, which took place on Wednesday night.

Who is working on the next Fantastic Four movie?

WandaVision helmer Matt Shakman is set to direct the Fantastic Four movie for Marvel Studios. The film’s screenplay is currently being written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, but the project is still a long time away as it was recently pushed back to 2025.

John Krasinski played the Earth-838 variant of Reed Richards in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but his future as the character is currently in doubt. Krasinski’s wife Emily Blunt has said that she’s hopeful we’ll see the actor back as Richards for Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four is currently scheduled to hit theaters on February 14, 2025. Stay tuned for all the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!

Source: The Hot Mic