MCU Officially Sets Up the Inhumans’ Explosive Return Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday

After the 2017 series, the Inhumans have been largely absent from the MCU, except for a Black Bolt cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, the franchise has just laid the groundwork now with the comic book, The Fantastic Four: First Foes. The tie-in comic introduces the Wizard and his group, the Frightful Four, which includes Medusa of the Inhumans.

Add a rumored Inhuman cameo in VisionQuest and the countdown to Avengers: Doomsday, and the pieces are starting to line up.

The Wizard Arrives in the MCU With a Key Inhumans Connection

The Fantastic Four: First Foes | Credits: Marvel Comics

Marvel has officially announced that the comic book The Fantastic Four: First Foes – The Wizard #1 will arrive in December, and with it will introduce the Wizard. The tech genius and illusionist is a major villain of the Fantastic Four, and he is also the head of the Frightful Four, the evil counterparts of the Fantastic Four. However, it is this Frightful Four member and their history that makes the introduction interesting.

Medusa is a member of the Frightful Four, but she later becomes the Queen of the Inhumans, marrying Black Bolt. In classic comics, the first roster of the Frightful Four included the Wizard, Sandman, Paste-Pot Pete (later the Trapster), and Medusa of the Inhumans. Sandman already exists within the timeline of the MCU after Spider-Man: No Way Home, thanks to multiverses.

While it is still a print debut for the Wizard and not on screen, the fact that he exists in the MCU, especially when it is heading towards such a big crossover event, makes it all the more interesting. Avengers: Doomsday will see the Avengers group with various supergroups like the X-Men, Thunderbolts, The Fantastic Four, and more. So, including the Inhumans isn’t too far-fetched.

The narrative about Inhumans returning in the MCU is not just based on this alone. Merchandise for VisionQuest, which premieres October 14, features a ‘Hard Drive’ logo that comic readers may connect to the Inhuman Hard-Drive. That is unconfirmed, but the same report notes it could be a low-stakes way to reintroduce the Inhumans while leaving the door open for bigger plans.

What Does The Wizard’s Entry Mean for Avengers: Doomsday?

Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday | Credits: Marvel Studios

The fact that the Wizard will appear in The Fantastic Four: First Foes in December, which is also the release month for Avengers: Doomsday, means something. The film is set to release on December 18, 2026, and will feature the Fantastic Four along with other groups. The post-credits scene from First Steps already introduced Doctor Doom.

The official synopsis promises heroes from three distinct universes on a deadly collision course, facing an existential threat unlike anything they have encountered. Those appear to be the mainline MCU, the Fantastic Four’s world, and the X-Men’s. The deadly force is Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., returning to the MCU in a new avatar.

Timing matters here. The Wizard comic lands the same month as Doomsday. That gives Marvel a chance to widen the Fantastic Four’s rogues’ gallery just as the film puts them in front of a global audience. 

Whether Medusa, Hard-Drive, or any other Inhuman shows up on that path is still unknown, and Marvel has not said so. For now, the Inhumans’ return is a well-supported theory rather than an announcement.

What do you think about the Inhumans’ return to the MCU? Comment below.