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Marvel’s iconic first family, the Fantastic Four, have battled no shortage of memorable enemies over their 60-year comic history, from alien invaders to criminal masterminds to extradimensional monsters. However, you’d be forgiven for not knowing that based on their previous cinematic portrayals.
Out of the three past Fantastic Four movies (four counting the unreleased 1994 film directed by Roger Corman), all three have featured Doctor Doom as the main antagonist, with Rise of the Silver Surfer briefly featuring a very underwhelming depiction of Galactus. And while Doom and Galactus are absolutely iconic characters who could potentially become some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest villains, they both deserve to be built up over multiple entries like Thanos or Kang — a debut film for the new FF already has four protagonists to establish and develop, so its main bad guy should probably be on the straightforward side. Thankfully, there are already plenty of villains from the comics who would make a perfect antagonist for the upcoming Jon Watts-directed Fantastic Four, coming soon to the MCU.
Annihilus
Known as “the Living Death That Walks”, the insectoid tyrant known as Annihilus is one of the FF’s most frightening foes. He rules over the anti-matter dimension known as the Negative Zone, and commands an army of buglike monsters called the Annihilation Wave. Driven by paranoia, he’s obsessed with wiping out all life in existence to preserve his own life, and nearly came close in a beloved comic storyline called Annihilation, starring Thanos, Silver Surfer, Nova, Star-Lord, and Drax. Annihilus is a simple yet threatening enemy who’d make a perfect foe for the FF’s MCU debut.
Mole Man
Another “what you see is what you get” type of villain, Mole Man was the very first enemy the FF ever faced. He’s a scientist who discovered the underground realm of Subterranea, inhabited by monsters of all shapes and sizes. Using technology created by the Deviants, Mole Man turned the monsters into his personal army, becoming the ruler of Subterranea and declaring war on the surface world. While Mole Man himself isn’t too imposing, his monstrous legion would make for quite the spectacular threat. Also, an additional fun fact: Mole Man was the inspiration for the Underminer from The Incredibles.
Puppet Master
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Walking the line between campy and creepy, this classic villain has the power to control anyone by creating a puppet in their image. His mind-controlling machinations have even turned the FF against one another, making him a thematically fitting villain for a story about a family supporting each other through adversity. Plus, he’s the father of the Thing’s longtime love interest Alicia Masters, giving him a major connection to the FF’s supporting cast.
Mad Thinker
The Mad Thinker is an archetypical mad scientist, as unhinged as he is power-hungry. He’s a masterful schemer and strategist, but he’s best known for creating the Awesome Android, a battle robot that can mimic the powers of its opponents. Not only would the Mad Thinker be an intellectual rival to Mr. Fantastic, but his Awesome Android would also be a formidable threat to the entire team.
Red Ghost
This villain is a bit on the sillier side, but no less memorable for it. In the comics, Ivan Kragoff was a Soviet scientist who replicated the incident that gave the FF their cosmic powers — except his crew was composed of trained apes instead of humans. And thus, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes were born: Mikhlo the super-strong gorilla, Peotr the magnetic orangutan, and Igor the shapeshifting baboon. Kragoff himself gained the power to become invisible and intangible, hence the name. An evil cosmonaut with a team of superpowered apes is definitely an offbeat choice for a villain, but it’s no stranger than anything the MCU has done before.
Psycho-Man
In the comics, the being known only as Psycho-Man is the despotic ruler of the Microverse — better known in the MCU as the Quantum Realm — who wishes to expand his empire to the wider universe. He uses a device known as the Control-Box to induce fear, doubt, and hate within humans, bending them to his will in his schemes of conquest. In one memorable storyline, he even managed to brainwash the Invisible Woman, transforming her into the powerful villain named Malice. Psycho-Man’s connections to an established part of MCU lore make him a natural candidate to be adapted, to say nothing of the potential threat posed by his powers of mental control.
Molecule Man
Once a timid lab tech, Owen Reece’s life was changed forever when he accidentally used a particle accelerator to open a rift in space and time, granting him the power of the cosmic being known as the Beyonder. Initially, he could only manipulate the molecules of inorganic matter (hence his name), but over time he learned to control all molecules, giving him near-unlimited power to reshape reality as he saw fit. Needless to say, Molecule Man is a major player in the Marvel multiverse, with deep connections to iconic storylines like Secret Wars. His overwhelming power and complex, troubled personality would make him a truly compelling addition to the MCU.
Super-Skrull
Kl’rt, better known as the Super-Skrull, is perhaps the most famous character on this list, but also potentially the trickiest to adapt for the FF’s MCU debut. In the comics, he’s a Skrull soldier who is granted the powers of the Fantastic Four to conquer Earth for the Skrull Empire. But as seen in Captain Marvel, the MCU’s Skrulls aren’t ruthless imperialists, but rather helpless victims of the Kree. But with the Secret Invasion TV series on the horizon, the Skrulls may very well be taking an antagonistic role before long — perhaps in the form of a villainous splinter group. And if that’s the case, there’s no more famous Skrull villain than the Super-Skrull himself. It’s entirely possible that Kl’rt will be adapted into the MCU as soon as Secret Invasion, which would set him up perfectly to be the main antagonist of Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four.
But of course, there’s currently no information on the story or cast of the upcoming film, much less who the main villain will be. It could potentially be any of these comic book baddies, or even someone else entirely. But no matter who ends up being the primary antagonist of Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four, it’ll be exciting to see more of the FF’s rogues’ gallery brought to life on the big screen.