The Fantastic Four: First Steps is finally out, marking the long-awaited return to the big screen for Marvel’s first family. It, much like Thunderbolts* before it, is being heralded as evidence that the MCU, which endured a trying period of hit-or-miss production unlike their pre-Endgame run, is back. That may or may not be true. It may or may not also be a pointless conversation that doesn’t need to be had every single time an MCU movie is good or bad, but that’s neither her nor there.

While the last two movies have been good, they might not have done enough to justify what’s coming. Avengers: Doomsday is set to be the conclusion, or at least one of two parts of the conclusion, of everything that’s come since WandaVision. Not enough legwork has been done so far to really make that shine (spoilers for Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Avengers: Doomsday Might Be in Trouble After Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four are set to be the new “leaders” in the MCU. That’s part of why they brought in Pedro Pascal, the quintessential leading man right now, to be their new Robert Downey Jr., of sorts. It’s also why Doctor Doom, primarily a Fantastic Four antagonist, is sort of the new Thanos.

But after seeing First Steps and Thunderbolts*, it’s clear that there’s still plenty of work to be done. First Steps does a really good job of being a standalone film in the MCU, which is greatly needed after the attempts to continue expanding and widening the universe following Avengers Endgame. Unfortunately, that can have side effects.

First Steps is set in an alternate timeline, Earth 828. The MCU’s main continuity is Earth 616. At the end of Thunderbolts*, the Fantastic Four’s ship is seen entering the earth’s atmosphere. This prompted the theory that the Four would lose to Galactus in First Steps and essentially flee their dying world to this one. That didn’t happen, at least not on screen.

A new theory has since arisen thanks to the explosive mid-credits scene. Doctor Doom, presumably played by Downey Jr., meets Franklin Richards, who may or may not be healing his infamously scarred face. What transpires next is yet to be seen, but it’s very possible that Doom takes Franklin, thus prompting Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm to follow him into Earth 616 where Doomsday will take place with virtually every other Marvel character.

That sadly is too much for one film to manage. Doomsday is probably, based on the meandering lack of true setup accomplished in Phases Four, Five, and Six so far, going to be more akin to the first Avengers movie in 2012 rather than Infinity War or Endgame, meaning that much of the coming together and establishing of the threat will take place in the run time.

That does bode better, but it’s not a perfect solution. It means that the Fantastic Four have to get to Earth 616 along with Doctor Doom. Then, something has to be done with all the legacy Marvel characters, like Patrick Stewart’s Professor X or Channing Tatum’s Gambit. If we can assume that they’re going to function as threat escalation for Doom (like the characters in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did for Wanda Maximoff), that’s still a lot of killing to be done.

Plus, the cast doesn’t even include so many characters that almost assuredly have to be included, like Spider-Man or Star-Lord, Moon Knight, or Hawkeye. Even if those don’t make it into the film, there’s still the Herculean task of bringing the remaining heroes (Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Shang-Chi, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, Sentry, Joaquin Torres’ Falcon, Ant-Man, US Agent, M’Baku, Loki, Bucky Barnes, and Shuri’s Black Panther) together.

Even if you haven’t been keeping up with the modern MCU, you know that those characters are almost exclusively not together and some don’t even know each other. There’s also some beef growing between Wilson’s Avengers unit and Belova’s New Avengers (a.k.a Thunderbolts) team. Resolving that, uniting the heroes, establishing the villain, it’s all a ton for one movie to handle.

This, in all likelihood, is going to lead to one of two things. Either all of that is going to be incredibly rushed, thereby using most of the legacy characters and beloved actors returning as nostalgia bait, or the movie is going to be immensely lengthy. Neither is an ideal outcome for what the MCU is really currently riding on.

The only projects left between now and Avengers: Doomsday (excluding animated ones that definitely won’t play into it) are Wonder Man and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Vision Quest and The Punisher Special might be out before, but it’s unlikely. And none of that is going to complete all the setup that’s been lacking this time around.

This doesn’t even include Doom’s origin or any sort of backstory, some of which should be included in his first real appearance in the MCU. He’s incredibly popular in comics, but this is different, and his origin stories on film were awful and 10 and 20 years ago respectively. The average moviegoers aren’t going to know who he is, and that’s just another thing for this film to handle.

End Credits

The Russo brothers have proven to be up to the task before, successfully helming the climactic combo of Infinity War and Endgame. However, as tall a task as that was, much more work had correctly been done beforehand. They’re left now with more than ever to handle in one movie that is also going to likely lead directly into another. While the latest progress has been good, and the future is undeniably exciting, there are some reasons to be hesitant.