A new iteration of Fantastic Four is on its way, but instead of repeating past mistakes by starting too big with Doctor Doom, Super Skrull is the best villain for the First Family of Marvel's MCU debut. The Fantastic Four were confirmed to be joining the MCU after Disney's acquisition of Fox. Naturally, talk soon turned to what villain they might face first. The MCU has already used up several major candidates for the role, which narrows things down. At the same time, the MCU has also managed to pretty thoroughly lay the groundwork for one character in particular to make an appearance in Fantastic Four: Super Skrull.

Super Skrull's long history with the Fantastic Four began in Fantastic Four #18, back in 1963. There he was a soldier of the Skrull Empire, genetically re-engineered to be capable of copying all of the Fantastic Four's powers, but better, while retaining his own Skrull shapeshifting abilities. Many of the stories featuring the character tended to revolve around his dedicated service to his people in their constant conflict, not just against Earth's heroes, but against numerous other factions across the universe - most notably the Kree.

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The MCU's storytelling thus far would dictate that Super Skrull is bound to show up eventually, and it's not exactly possible to introduce the Super Skrull without the Fantastic Four. The Skrulls already made their debut in 2019's Captain Marvel and Super Skrull is the most noteworthy Skrull character, bar none. It makes sense to bring him into the fold, especially as the Skrulls seem primed for a long tenure with the MCU. What might have seemed like a simple gag appearance of the Skrulls in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home was a Secret Invasion setup for the upcoming Disney+ series. In the Secret Invasion comics, released in 2008, the Earth was secretly invaded by the Skrulls, who used their shapeshifting powers to impersonate Earth's heroes.

Superimposed image of Sam Jackson as Nick Fury and the Secret Invasion logo.

To make an even stronger case for Super Skrull, and not Doctor Doom, being the First Family's debut villain in the MCU, several classic villains associated with the Fantastic Four have already been used or have been heavily rumored for other projects. Ronan the Accuser was used as the central antagonist of 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. Namor's been all but confirmed for the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, likely in an antagonistic role, given the hostility between Wakanda and Atlantis in the comics. Post-LokiKang seems poised to be the next Thanos, a large-scale villain given the multiversal direction of MCU Phase 4.

Then would be the matter of Marvel's storytelling formula. A common early criticism thrown at Marvel was that most of their villains tended to be dark reflections of the heroes with similar powers, which got old. After the success of Iron Man in 2008, it happened again with The Incredible HulkAnt-Man,  and even Black Panther. Super Skrull could repeat that MCU dopplegänger villain problem. But he's also a very defined character who could separate himself through his personality and motivation, much the same way that Killmonger did in Black Panther.

Starting with Doctor Doom - a villain who is, frankly, just as significant as Thanos, if not more - would be a terrible misplay by Marvel for Fantastic Four. Super Skrull, on the other hand, might be a likely candidate. He certainly fits with Marvel's style thus far and the MCU hasn't left a large number of other big Fantastic Four villains to fill the role. Plus, Super Skrull would be relevant to the Skrull-heavy future the MCU seems to be gearing up for with Secret Invasion. Marvel's hardly revealed any new details about the Fantastic Four film since announcing it. But if Super Skrull is involved, it wouldn't be a surprise.

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