Despite protestations from the cast and director Matt Shakman, Marvel fans are still hopeful Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom could appear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps in some capacity.
Dispelling this theory again, now, is actor Ralph Ineson telling GamesRadar+ he'd like to "cross swords" with the Latverian villain when we asked which MCU character he'd like his character Galactus to share scenes with in the future...
"This isn't based on anything that I know, but I worked with Robert Downey Jr. a few years ago on a film and he was a really nice guy, so I'd love to cross swords with Doctor Doom," he says with a smile. "But that's not saying I know anything, we just know he's coming into it but yeah, I'd like to work with him again."
"That would be a cool one," Julia Garner, who plays Silver Surfer/Shalla-Bal, says. "That's a good one. But also, I would like to work with you more. We didn't have any scenes together! And then, you know, you wouldn't have to be solo."
Given that Silver Surfer is Galactus's right-hand woman in the movie, it's quite surprising to hear Garner admit they don't have any scenes together. That might just be in reference to the fact that they filmed separately, however, and not necessarily confirmation that the two antagonists never interact onscreen.
"It was a slightly different way of working [and] quite solo, just me and the crew," Ineson explained earlier. "Everybody was working for four or five months on the movie before I showed up to actually shoot but I visited many times for fittings and camera tests. So I'd pop in and be like, "Hi" and everyone'd be like, "Who's that weird guy?'"
While we don't know whether we'll see more of Silver Surfer and Galactus beyond first Steps, we do know the Fantastic Four will be in Avengers: Doomsday, thanks to that five-hour-long cast announcement back in March.
"I'd love to see a Thing/Hulk pairing, whether it's adversarial or on the same team," The Thing actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach says of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Captain America and co. "I think [there'd be] some kind of tenuous relationship there, so that would be my first choice."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases in UK cinemas on July 24, before arriving in theaters across the pond the following day. While we wait, check out all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
