What Is Latveria and Why Does 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Keep Teasing Us About It?

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

18 years after the cloud-centric debacle of Rise of the Silver Surfer, Marvel fans finally have not just a good Fantastic Four film, but a fittingly epic adaptation of the comics’ original, iconic Galactus Trilogy. But while Galactus (Ralph Ineson) is, as usual, the most physically powerful threat the first family of superheroes has ever faced. The Fantastic Four: First Steps focuses mostly on the conflict between the team, the alien behemoth, and his reluctant herald, the Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) incarnation of the Silver Surfer. The film also introduces the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the FF’s most famous villain, Doctor Doom. Victor von Doom is only actually shown onscreen in the film’s mid-credits scene and only then from behind, likely meaning that Robert Downey Jr. didn’t actually play his next Marvel role ahead of his starring part in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, but First Steps gradually alludes to the character in a few earlier scenes. The storyline focusing on the political landscape of the Fantastic Four’s home Earth (numbered 828 in the Marvel multiverse in a touching tribute to one of the team’s co-creators, Jack Kirby) includes a few telling references to Latveria, the fictional European nation Doom is known for ruling in Marvel Comics.

What is Latveria in 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps'?

Created (like the FF and Doom themselves) by Kirby and Stan Lee, Latveria first appeared in The Fantastic Four Annual #2 in 1964. The country is usually depicted as being located in the Banat region of Europe, although, as is usually the case with fictional geography, this is sometimes contradicted by other storylines. In their respective long publication histories, the country has at times been freed from Doom, but more often than not, he is the present-day ruler. Although he unsurprisingly presides over an authoritarian regime in which he effectively has absolute power, Doom’s leadership position does often allow for the portrayal of nuance in his character, as he takes the responsibility of protecting Latveria seriously, which sometimes even leads him to make temporary alliances with the FF and other superheroes, though his own tactics generally remain characteristically immoral. Conversely, Doom’s political position is also one of the factors that makes him such a difficult opponent for the heroes to defeat or punish, as he often holds diplomatic immunity.

In First Steps, Latveria is first referenced during the scenes establishing Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman’s (Vanessa Kirby) work as a world leader, with which she has united most of the countries on Earth in a successful alliance that also establishes the international organization known as the Future Foundation. At a meeting of Foundation member nations (which may also be part of the United Nations or its equivalent, if Earth-828 has one), an empty seat is shown, with a place card showing that it was meant for a Latverian delegation, if one had been present. Latveria is likewise absent from the later meetings in which Sue and the Foundation coordinate the global effort to protect the planet from Galactus.

Latveria Could Appear in 'Avengers: Doomsday'

As brief as these scenes are, they still imply some important details about this version of Latveria, and consequently, Doom himself. While they don’t guarantee that Doom is in charge of Latveria at this point in the narrative, and neither they nor the mid-credits scene even confirm the version of Doom shown is from Earth-828, the fact that they’re the most direct references and depiction of the character in a live action MCU project so far implies that both of these are the case (and that this version of Doom will be the one featured, at least most heavily, in Doomsday). Assuming that Doom is in charge of the country already, its absence from cooperative international work, even in the face of the threat of the planet’s complete annihilation, suggests that this Doom may be even more self-centered and ruthless than the mainstream comics' incarnation. The choice not to ally his country with the rest of the world may simply point to this Doom being so arrogant that he’s convinced he can ensure his people’s survival himself, but it may also have an additional motivation. The mid-credits scene doesn’t show enough of Sue’s reaction to Doom interacting with her toddler son, Franklin, to indicate whether or not she knows who he is, but if he and the Four have already encountered one another, Doom could be keeping Latveria isolated and targeting Franklin due more to his petty grudge against the team, especially Sue’s husband, Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal).

Again, the film’s alternate universe setting underlines that different iterations of Latveria and/or Doom could be shown in later Marvel projects. Some fans have specifically theorized that a version of the country from the franchise’s main 616 universe will be born or expanded out of the wreckage of Sokovia, the also fictional nation that was the home of the superpowered Maximoff siblings and Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) and was decimated in Avengers: Age of Ultron, especially after Zemo referenced how neighboring countries have subsequently annexed much of Sokovia’s land. First Steps’ references don’t preclude something like this from happening, but Doom’s debut coming in the film still suggests that these will be the main iterations of the character and country for the foreseeable future. And while no further appearances from the nation have been officially announced for future projects, it’s likely that it could be shown in Doomsday and/or the subsequent film Avengers: Secret Wars, given that Doom is set to play central roles in both and Kevin Feige’s recent comments that revealed that Doomsday will feature scenes set on Earth-828.