Marvel fans have long lamented that the comic book publisher’s characters were split amongst different studios for their big-screen adventure. Some fans were sure the likes of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four would never make their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When the screen rights held by FOX became part of Marvel’s holdings again as the result of the Disney-FOX merger, there was hope. While the X-Men still haven’t been announced, Marvel’s first family is getting their own movie, directed by Jon Watts.
Audiences don’t yet know what the movie will entail, but fans are already imagining their dream casting scenarios. Actor/director John Krasinski and his wife, actress Emily Blunt, are fan favorites for the roles of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, but that doesn’t mean Marvel’s casting team will heed fan wishes. In fact, despite there not yet being a script, casting and story rumors have already started. There is one wish, however, that could make the Fantastic Four’s story in the MCU a little more unique than their past trips to the big screen: not giving them the same villain.
The Fantastic Four earned the nickname “Marvel’s first family” because their 1961 series marked the first time Marvel had a team stick together for an ongoing title. At the time, most of Marvel’s stories focused on singular characters battling bad guys for an issue or two. Most issues were even standalone stories. Every so often, heroes would team up in anthology stories, but they didn’t stick together.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby changed that when they developed the team. They didn’t just make four people team up, but turned them into a family. Sue Storm and Reed Richards as a couple at the head of the team with her younger brother and his best friend made for a sometimes dysfunctional family dynamic, but it worked. Victor Von Doom is not a part of that family dynamic. It doesn’t matter how many movies want the audience to think he is.
The 2005 Fantastic Four adaptation made Doom a former classmate of Reed’s with feelings for Sue. The 2015 adaptation made him a teammate. While the upcoming adaptation should absolutely still keep a family dynamic amongst the Fantastic Four, it doesn’t need Doom to achieve that.
Victor Von Doom, leader of Latveria, has already appeared in every big-screen adaptation of Fantastic Four. Though the 1992 movie only exists in bootleg copies, the character even appeared in that version of the story. He also appeared as the villain in 2005’s Fox movie, and even acted as the true villain in its sequel. The 2015 movie used the Ultimate comic book version of the character as its inspiration for the villain.
Doom is easily the team’s best-known villain. That’s why it’s much easier for writers to include him in their story. The team, however, has an incredibly deep rogues gallery. There are a ton of Marvel mainstays who actually made their debut facing off against the Fantastic Four. There are also a large number of villains who go up against the foursome more often than the Avengers or X-Men. One of those is Kang the Conqueror, though he went by a different name at his debut. Kang will be one of the new upcoming MCU villains. He’ll make his big-screen debut in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.
Other formidable opponents in their rogues gallery include Galactus, Mephisto, Namor, Molecule Man, and even relatives of Agatha Harkness, who is currently shaking things up on WandaVision. It’s long past time for the Fantastic Four to get to take on another villain.
Victor Von Doom didn’t make his comic book debut until five episodes into the series. Prior to his villainous appearance, the Fantastic Four went up against four different villains, but their first was Mole Man. Mole Man might not sound particularly impressive, but as someone with no superpowers who manages to take on the team again and again, he really is.
A former scientist laughed at for his “hollow Earth” theories, Harvey Elder wound up stuck in an underground world called Subterranea. That underground world was populated by all manner of monstrous creatures. Harvey not only learned to coexist with them, but also to control some. He used his knowledge of Subterranea after years of living there to make attacks on the surface world. His motivations change depending on the story. Sometimes, he’s even a friend of Ben Grimm AKA the Fantastic Four’s Thing.
While Mole Man is a scientist and villain first, he’s also reformed a time or two in the comics. In fact, one of his storylines involves him making a sanctuary for those who have seen persecution in the surface world. With the “hollow Earth” theories also a part of Godzilla’s monster-verse, a sanctuary in Subterranea would definitely appeal to those interested in that aspect of the Godzilla movies.
The bottom line is that Mole Man deserves a chance to prove himself the formidable villain (and potential ally) the comics could have made him.
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