Recent rumors have claimed that the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, Franklin Richards, will be introduced in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but we're now hearing that the immensely powerful youngster will also play a significant part in Avengers: Doomsday.
According to scooper Daniel Richtman, the project is currently casting actors between 10-13 to play Franklin Richards, who will have a "major role" in the film. But here's the most interesting part: the character will reportedly be a toddler (3-4 years-old) in Fantastic Four.
If you're a fan of the FF comics, you'll probably have a pretty good idea how Franklin could potentially age-up between movies.
On the page, Richards - a reality-warping mutant - uses his abilities to grow into adulthood. This allows him to utilize his psionic powers to their full potential, but after realizing that his mind still lacked an adult's emotional maturity, he ultimately decides to transform back into a child.
If Doomsday does follow this storyline, we'd expect some big changes to how things play out.
Previous rumors have hinted at a connection between Franklin and Galactus, with the villain sending the Silver Surfer to demand that Reed and Sue hand the boy over. This could indicate that the MCU will adapt at least some elements of the "Earth X" arc, which saw Franklin become the new Galactus for a time. Again, we don't anticipate a direct adaptation, but there's a chance Franklin will transform into a near God-like being in order to protect (or restore) the Multiverse.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both films will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
Have another look at some photos Downey Jr. shared to Instagram after the big reveal below.