Marvel Studios may have announced their entire slate of projects for Phase Four and beyond, but besides the titles of the upcoming movies and TV shows, the company are intent on maintaining their veil of secrecy. After having Thanos lurk in the shadows for years before coming to the fore as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ultimate end-of-game boss across Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, the franchise might want to take a different path when it comes to their villains and instead focus on each standalone movie’s bad guy.

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However, recent rumors have indicated that Marvel could be set to take the ‘Big Bad’ approach once again, with both Galactus and Doctor Doom said to be the leading candidates. It makes total sense if the MCU wants to repeat a tried-and-tested formula, with both villains ranking among the most iconic in comic book history.

Interestingly, both also have close connections to the Fantastic Four, who will eventually be making their way into cinema’s biggest franchise, giving the MCU the opportunity to both introduce the superhero team and their arch-nemesis in one swoop, as well as spinning Galactus and Doctor doom off into other franchises to act as a looming threat in the background.

We recently reported that Doctor Doom was being positioned as the next ‘Big Bad’ after the end of the Sony deal saw any plans to use Norman Osborn abandoned, while Galactus would easily fit into the cosmic side of the MCU to act as an adversary to the likes of Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy or even The Eternals, which would also be a great opportunity to introduce the fan-favorite Silver Surfer into the mix.

While it wouldn’t be the most creative idea to introduce another overarching villain into the MCU so soon after Thanos, now that Marvel Studios own the rights to Galactus and Doctor Doom, much like the recently-departed Mad Titan himself, their debut in the long-running franchise seems inevitable.