Fantastic Four: First Steps may have just introduced the key to defeating Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday

In their MCU debut, the Fantastic Four become a Fantastic Five with the arrival of Reed and Sue's son, Franklin Richards. Worries that he might not be "normal" are confirmed in Fantastic Four: First Steps when Galactus recognises that the boy can wield an unlimited energy known as the Power Cosmic (presumably because of the "cosmically compromised DNA" shared by both of his parents).

It's this same energy that powers the Devourer of Worlds, as well as his herald, the Silver Surfer, which makes Franklin the perfect person to become his successor and relieve Galactus of the insatiable hunger that's consumed him for millennia. It also makes Franklin a key player in the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday, one who could very well hold the key to defeating Doctor Doom when no one else can. Full spoilers for the events of Fantastic Four: First Steps follow.

That potential isn't obvious at first, however. When the team is forced to use Franklin as bait to lure Galactus, this newest addition to Marvel's First Family remains passive throughout the fight. He is a baby, to be fair, but for quite some time, it seems like the full extent of his powers have been hugely exaggerated. Or have they?

Mother superior

In the end, it's Sue who defeats Galactus (with a little help from the others), pushing her powers to the absolute limit. In doing so, the Invisible Woman exhausts her cosmic energy entirely and loses her life in the process. But then something miraculous happens. As the others grieve her death, Franklin brings his mother back to life, recharging her with the Power Cosmic.

This feat is light years beyond anything the Fantastic Four can do with their already impressive gifts, yet this barely scratches the surface of what Franklin is actually capable of.

First introduced in Fantastic Four Annual #6, Franklin has been a key player in Marvel comics ever since his 1968 debut. As a mutant who possesses the ability to warp reality itself, his power eclipses even Omega-level mutants like Magneto and Jean Grey. Teleportation, matter manipulation, precognition and telekinesis are just some of the gifts in Franklin's grasp, and there seems to be no upper limit to his power.

Over the years, Franklin has aged himself up and down, used codenames such as Powerhouse and Tattletale to fight as a hero, and even became Galactus himself in Earth X, a series set outside of regular Marvel continuity.

It's easy to see where the inspiration for his arc in First Steps came from if you go back and give that iconic 90s run by Jim Krueger and John Paul Leon a read. But it's what Franklin got up to in Marvel's big Heroes Reborn event in 1996 that hints at the key role he'll play in Avengers: Doomsday.

Here comes the Doom

Long story short, Magneto and Professor Xavier were essentially amalgamated into an unstoppable threat named Onslaught, who terrorized the entire Marvel universe. The Avengers and Fantastic Four combined forces and sacrificed themselves to weaken him long enough for the X-Men to finish off Onslaught.

But just like at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, these shocking deaths didn't stick. That's because Franklin subconsciously created an entire new pocket reality and transported the heroes there, separate from the rest of the Marvel Universe. Yep, he made a whole new world from scratch without even meaning to, saving the lives of his family and Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the process.

A couple of years later, the Avengers and Fantastic Four were returned to the regular timeline as if nothing had happened, but what this confirmed is that the scope of Franklin's power is essentially omnipotent. Not only can he create new worlds, he can manipulate them and destroy them too.

Assuming the MCU follows this same trajectory, such power is exactly what drew Galactus to Franklin, and presumably Doctor Doom as well, four years later in the First Steps post-credits scene. There, a slightly older version of Franklin is visited by Victor Von Doom, but it's not clear which version because we never actually see his face and the scene ends before anything is explained.

Could this be the version that Robert Downey Jr. will play in Avengers: Doomsday, or is this a more comic-book faithful take on the classic character played by someone else? With multiversal shenanigans afoot, anything's possible, and the exact truth won't become clear until Avengers: Doomsday is released.

However, it's not hard to see why Victor is so intrigued by Franklin, given the extraordinary power this young child possesses. While his end goal remains shrouded in mystery, it's clear that Doom intends to manipulate Franklin and use his reality-warping gifts to shape the world (or worlds) to his liking.

Power up

It's already been confirmed that Doomsday will be followed by a sequel titled Avengers: Secret Wars, which will draw inspiration from Jonathan Hickman's 2015 miniseries of the same name. There, the Marvel Universe and various other realities were destroyed completely, leaving God Emperor Doom behind to reign over an amalgamation of various Earths from different timelines known as Battleworld.

Doom is incredibly powerful, combining his intellect with sorcery to pose an extremely formidable threat, but he alone cannot traverse the multiverse at all, let alone create and destroy or combine different realities. That's where Franklin comes in. Whether or not Doom succeeds in wresting the boy away from Susan after that post-credits scene, it's clear the boy's power is integral to his plans and what will follow.

Crucially though, this means Franklin will also be the key to stopping Doom. That could be another reason why Victor takes an interest in Reed and Sue's son, to neutralise him or bring him in line so that Franklin can't go on to stop or reverse his schemes. Because make no mistake about it, heroes like Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch are incredibly powerful, but when Doom inevitably messes with the multiverse, Franklin is the only one strong enough to undo what happens next.

Don't be surprised if Marvel uses this Doomsday storyline to streamline their ever-expanding multiverse into one combined reality (Kevin Feige has already said as much) that's easier for newcomers to understand and jump on board with. That's what Hickman's Secret Wars was designed to do for the comics, and the upcoming Avengers movies will likely do the same for Marvel storytelling onscreen, with Franklin at the centre of it all.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in cinemas now. For more, check out our Fantastic Four: First Steps review and, after you've seen the film, dive into our guide for the Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scenes.