Curious why one nation’s seat sat empty during the Future Foundation summit in the new Marvel movie? The Fantastic Four: First Steps plants a subtle but significant clue involving Latveria that ties directly to one of Marvel’s most iconic villains, setting the stage for major developments in Avengers: Doomsday.

Here’s what the film reveals about Latveria’s missing representative, multiversal theories, and Doctor Doom’s looming presence in the MCU.

Why Latveria’s chair was vacant in The Fantastic Four: First Steps

During Sue Storm’s address to the Future Foundation, Earth-828’s version of the United Nations, one seat was conspicuously empty.

Latveria, a sovereign nation in the Marvel Universe ruled by Victor von Doom (Doctor Doom), left its chair vacant. The moment immediately raised questions about Latveria’s absence from such a crucial global summit and hinted at broader multiversal implications.

Marvel Comics traditionally depicts Latveria as a small Eastern European country that Doom rules with absolute authority. The film confirms Latveria’s existence on Earth-828, the home dimension of this version of the Fantastic Four, establishing its geopolitical presence in the multiverse.

The film uses the empty Latverian seat as a deliberate easter egg. It subtly sets up Doctor Doom’s entrance in the mid-credits scene, where a hooded figure watches over Franklin Richards. While the film implies this figure is Doom, it never confirms whether he belongs to Earth-828. Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards directly mentions the existence of parallel universes, and the film confirms that Galactus comes from outside their dimension, strengthening the multiversal context.

This raises two possibilities. The vacant Latverian chair might symbolize that Doom himself is Earth-828’s representative, but was absent for unknown reasons. Alternatively, it could suggest that no known leader currently rules Latveria on Earth-828, possibly hinting that Doom hasn’t emerged there yet or is from another universe entirely.

The film does not clarify the origin of Robert Downey Jr.’s version of Doctor Doom. The multiverse context allows for the character to be a variant from another reality. If he is from Earth-828, the empty seat could be his. If he is from another dimension, it might point to the existence of a different Doom native to Earth-828, whose role is yet to unfold.