Fantastic Four is teasing the destruction of the universe, and it involves Doctor Doom, the Silver Surfer, and Marvel's most powerful mutant.
Writers Dan Slott and R.B. Silva have been teasing a whole lot of events involving the Fantastic Four that could very well culminate in the destruction of everyone and everything in the Marvel universe. This isn’t hyperbole, either - they are promising the entire dimension is under threat, all while employing one of the oldest ploys in the Marvel playbook: raising the stakes by involving Doctor Doom.
Despite being teased in the synopsis for issue #25, it doesn't seem like Marvel's most imposing villain is actually going to be behind the end of everything. This makes sense - Doom was responsible for preventing the end of the Marvel Multiverse in 2015's Secret Wars - so who is the mysterious villain set to end the Marvel Comics Universe? The synopsis for Fantastic Four #27 offers a few clues:
Everything is about to come to an end here on Yancy Street. Literally everything. Say goodbye to the Earth, our galaxy and life as we know it, because this entire dimension is destined for destruction. Whose fault is it? And why, with the stakes so high, would they choose this moment to abandon us? Guest-starring the Silver Surfer!
One, the Silver Surfer makes a guest appearance in issue #27. With that information, readers will recall that there's a world-destroying character whose arrival tends to be heralded by the Silver Surfer: the all-devouring Galactus. Two, in issue #26, the Fantastic Four attempt to close a portal that apparently leads to everywhere, but Mister Fantastic stops them from doing so. Why would he do that? Apart, these facts don't mean much, but combined, they suggest that Franklin Richards - the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman - is the true threat.
Franklin is a wildly powerful mutant with the ability to manipulate and even create realities, and he has a long history of creating portals to other dimensions. The destinies of both Franklin and Galactus are deeply intertwined as well, a relationship that many writers have alluded to but never fully expounded upon until writer Mark Waid finally took the plunge in the History of the Marvel Universe. During this limited series, it was revealed that Galactus and Franklin would witness the end of the universe together. Knowing this, it’s not too outlandish to think that events are unfolding in that direction, and if closing this portal could somehow put Franklin's life in danger, Mister Fantastic would most likely not want to close it, even if failing to do so could destroy their dimension. (Plus, Franklin's frame easily fits in the armor that's featured on the cover of issue #27, so it's probably him.)
Oh, and Abraxas is probably involved, too. Wherever Galactus is, you can expect the embodiment of destruction is somewhere lurking in the shadows. In fact, it’s quite plausible that Abraxas is the reason behind the aforementioned portal ripping open. He has caused disturbances in the space-time continuum before - one such occurrence involved characters from other universes entering Earth-616, which is apparently happening in issue #26 of the Fantastic Four. All in all, this looks like one mess the Fantastic Four wouldn't be able to fix even if they wanted to...
Fantastic Four #27 by Dan Slott and R.B. Silva will be released December 2020.
