#202 – Galactus, Doom & the Cosmic Heir

Welcome back to Marvel Maniac and MCU After Show. This is your host Eric Cicada, aka Mr. Honest. And today we're diving in to the Disney Plus Deep Watch of Fantastic Four First Steps. This is the slow watch, the detail pass, the version where the noise calms down and the actual story rises to the surface. We've done the instant reaction out of the theater and we've done the Internet reaction reading subredd and discourse. But this is the truth reaction. The what is this movie really building toward reaction. And before I could say anything else, I never want to present these ideas like I invented the wheel. Fandom has been talking about Galactus, the power, cosmic and doom variants for decades. Channels like Screen Crush, especially our guest last week, Ryan Arie, he does this. And they've explored a ton of ground similar to this. What clicked for me on this rewatch isn't a brand new claim. It's a specific combination of ideas this movie quietly assembles and what today's episode is about. So Reed Richards says the line that unlocks everything. Galactus predates our universe. Fans have known this from the comics for years, but in this movie, the detail becomes the spine of the story. If Galactus existed before the big bang, then he isn't just a cosmic villain. He's a refugee of the previous reality. A being who survived whatever destroyed that last universe. And he has been running on hunger ever since. His hunger isn't an appetite. It's withdrawal. A cycle that he cannot escape. In the comics, Galactus eats planets. Big cosmic crunch but for first steps gives us a different interpretation. We never see him eat in the movie at all. His ship destroys worlds. Their core energy gets harvested. The energy is funneled into a biomechanical tube system that's on his back. And when Reed cracks one of those open, cosmic lava pours out like a ruptured fuel line. This version of Galactus isn't feasting. He's surviving through life support technology. Maybe he used to feed naturally. Maybe aging or cosmic erosion changed him. Whatever the reason, he's no longer an eater of worlds. He's a dependent of worlds. A star trying to stay lit. The movie reveals its hand very early. Within 20 minutes, the conflict isn't stop Galactus. It's protect Franklin Richards. And then the final act gives us the key moment. Galactus speaks directly to the baby. You are my salvation, my deliverance from this vicious hunger. He doesn't want to consume Franklin. He wants to replace himself. Franklin carries pure, untouched power cosmic, the kind that Galactus hasn't felt in eons. The movie quietly frames Franklin as the next Galactus. If someone doesn't stop it, he is successor. Solution Escape hatch the end of Galactus is suffering. Galactus isn't kidnapping a child, he's trying to pass on the torch. And now Doom. We see the Latveria place card at the Global Council meeting, but the chair is empty. That's not nothing. Marvel placed that there for a reason and it tells us that there is a Doom in this universe. The he's already moving. He's intentionally absent when everyone else is sharing the intel. So he's not clueless. He's not irrelevant. He's watching. Now let's jump to the post credit scene. We see this universe's Doom hooded, silent and drawn toward Franklin. And the moment Franklin touches Doom's face. That's not accidental at all. Marvel doesn't storyboard Toddler touching Doom's face Scar tissue without purpose. This Doom is emotionally hooked the moment he feels that power. But the big question was is this Robert Downey Jr. S doom or a local variant? And that's where our refinements finally clicked last night. Interpretation A the movie wants us to think that this is RDJ's doom. This is the surface level read RDJ's doom hears about Franklin, arrives, makes first move in contact. Simple. It works and the movie leaves room for it. But there's a deeper version, and honestly, the deeper version fits much cleaner with what we know of Marvel's blueprint. Interpretation B the Council of Doom exists and this doom is a general so here's the flow. RDJ's Doom discovers the multiverse first evidence Comic Con reveal with 15 to 20 dooms surrounding him, that wasn't an accident. He forms the Council of Dooms. Doom variants don't argue like kings. They align. They elevate the Prime Doom. One variant is missing from the Council. The Doom from this Fantastic Four universe. Prime Doom uses the Time Stone, assuming he has Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet or whatever he's using to scan universes. Learning about Galactus Franklin the anomaly of a child with raw power Cosmic the significance of this specific reality. Prime Doom extracts this local Doom, briefs him, sends him back in undercover monitor Galactus. He gathers intel, study the Richards baby of course find access to Galactus's ship, which is just in the atmosphere where we left it. Stay invisible until the right moment. The empty Latveria chair. That is not an oversight. That's absence with purpose. In the post credit scene that Doom's face is touched by Franklin and something happens. Maybe compassion, maybe clarity, maybe corruption. After four years of observing the child and most likely the ship, this Doom returns to the Council and Prime Doom senses softness, a bond, hidden intel, something that he didn't disclose. And Prime Doom does what a Prime Doom does. He eliminates the weak link and he takes Franklin himself. This is the dark through line that leads directly into Doomsday and Secret Wars. So Galactus isn't dead. By the way, the movie strongly implies displacement, not destruction. Fan theories include the void, the space between universes, a future timeline, a universe Doom eventually reaches, or a cosmic holding zone. Our read Galactus comes back worse, wounded, starving, desperate, unbound from his ship, a weapon waiting to be used by the wrong hands. Whether as a pawn in Doomsday, a guard dog of Battle World like Elias in Secret wars, or an unstable cosmic nuke held on a leash, he is not done. Marvel didn't just introduce a pre Big Bang God just to retire him in one movie. First steps hits different when you slow down. Some of today's ideas are old fandom staples, some snapped into place fresh on this re watch. Some are just instinct fitting known puzzle pieces. But together, this movie quietly sets up something bigger. Galactus isn't finished, Doom is only the beginning, and Franklin Richards is the cosmic hinge between them. This isn't just a Fantastic Four movie. This is the opening chord of a coming storm. So if you enjoyed today's deep dive, it would genuinely help the show if you rated Marvel Maniac wherever you listen or hopped on over to patreon.com marvel maniac whether you join for free or to be a part of the community or support the show, you're instantly part of our community. And every rating, every listener, every person who joins you, move this show forward more than you know. And I appreciate you truly. This was a quick one, but a lot to think about, a lot to chew on. More episodes are coming, more theories brewing, and yes, we're inching closer to Doomsday, whether it be a year away and Secret wars every week. With all my heart, thank you for listening. And until next time, Avengers disassemble.