Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepsshows an empty chair for Latveria, which teases the upcoming villain ofAvengers: Doomsday. As far as setting upupcoming Marvel moviesgoes,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis very important. The main reason for this is how integral the characters will be toAvengers: Doomsday’s story.
Thepost-credit scene ofThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsmade this abundantly clear, as Marvel Studios begins paving the road towards the nextAvengersmovie. Even within the story itself, putting aside post-credit scenes,The Fantastic Four: First Steps’Easter eggsteased what is to come in the MCU’s future.
One such Easter egg is found in the film’s first act and concerns something named Latveria. For those unfamiliar with Marvel Comics, questions like what is Latveria, why is it important, and what does the Easter egg set up are vitally important afterThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Includes An Easter Egg To Latveria
What Is Latveria?
Firstly, it is worth exploring the Easter egg to Latveria inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, and what exactly this means. In the film’s opening act, a montage of The Fantastic Four’s various efforts over the years is shown. Be it their early battles against classic villains or their origin story,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsbegins with a great deal of world-building.
One nugget of this world-building comes as Sue Storm is shown creating the Future Foundation, a vital part of The Fantastic Four’s story, which is an organization built to better humanity’s future. Several countries are shown agreeing to be part of this Foundation, yet the camera pans to an empty chair for Latveria.
In the Marvel universe, Latveria is a fictional country. Much like Wakanda or Talokan, Latveria does not exist in our world, yet it plays a vital role in the world of Marvel.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsestablishes this importance by teasing Latveria, which also links to a major character.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Latveria Easter Egg Teases Avengers: Doomsday’s Doctor Doom
The Villain Is Almost Here
The character that links to Latveria is none other than Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom. Doom is a massive antagonist in Marvel Comics, primarily of The Fantastic Four, explaining the connection found inFirst Steps. In the MCU, though, Doom will be a villain to all major heroes in the Marvel multiverse.
Doom is set to be the main antagonist ofAvengers: Doomsdayand its sequel, thestory ofAvengers: Secret Wars. In the comics and the MCU, Doom is the ruler of Latveria, explaining how the seat inFantastic Four: First Stepslinks to him. The small tease of Doom’s absence sets the stage for the film’s end-credit scene, where the character appears for the first time.
Why Was Latveria’s Seat Empty During The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
The Doom-Fantastic Four Rivalry Has Already Started
Another big question linking to the Latveria tease inThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsis why the chair is empty during the Future Foundation meeting. The reason for this links to Doom’s antagonism with the titular team. In most iterations of the character, he has an intense rivalry with Reed Richards and, thus, the rest of the Fantastic Four.
Given thatFantastic Four: First Stepstakes place on Earth-828, the characters have already been acting as the team for four years. Therefore, it could be the case that Doom and The Fantastic Four have clashed in this universe before the events of the film.
Doom clearly does not want Latveria to support the Future Foundation…
This could have kickstarted Doom and Reed’s rivalry, with the former’s absence at the Future Foundation meeting hinting at exactly this. If not, it could be the case that Doom simply doesn’t care for The Fantastic Four, despite them never coming to blows. Either way, Doom clearly does not want Latveria to support the Future Foundation, explaining why he was not present.
Avengers: Doomsday Will Build On The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Latveria Tease
As already alluded to,Avengers: Doomsdaywill further explain the Latveria tease found inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps. The post-credit scene of the latter sets up the former, proving how big a connection there will be between Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom and The Fantastic Four. Interestingly, though, some questions remain.
For one, it is unclear whether RDJ’s Doom, confirmed to be the main villain of both upcomingAvengersmovies, is the same version from Earth-828. It could be the case that this version of Doom has been defeated in the past, further explaining why the Latveria chair was empty. This would render RDJ’s Doom as one from another universe.
Conversely,Avengers: Doomsdaycould confirm that RDJ’s Doom is the one from Earth-828. If this were the case,Avengers: Doomsdaycould build on the Latveria tease inThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsby explaining what exactly has gone down between Doom and The Fantastic Four of Earth-828.
This would explain the rivalry, the absence of Doom from the Future Foundation, and why Doom would seek out Franklin Richards as a way to get back at Reed and Sue. Regardless, the point is thatAvengers: Doomsdayhas a lot of questions to answer about Doctor Doom, with the majority of them stemming fromThe Fantastic Four: First Steps' Latveria Easter egg.
