Question about Franklin Richards in Doomsday/Secret Wars

At the end of Fantastic Four there was a time jump and it is assumed Franklin is four years old.
I am unfamiliar with the comic source material, but I also am aware that the films change so much compared to the comics.
Is Franklin usually around that age when he is interacting with Doom during those storylines? Or is it expected that he will be older.

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CommunityDragon1842025-12-02 18:46

I think he’s like 9 or so in the comics

colderstates2025-12-02 18:56

Think they’re a little younger in Jonathan Hickman’s run (I forget about Franklin but Valeria is 3) but they get aged up off-page after Secret Wars, when the characters all disappear for a few years.

Morchades2025-12-02 19:44

Franklin is 7 years older than Val, so 10 in the Hickman run.

colderstates2025-12-02 20:48

Oh wow, I didn’t realise it was that much of a gap! I stand corrected.

MyMartianRomance2025-12-03 00:50

Good old sliding timeline where they are either 7 years apart or only 2-3 years apart.

Since, there's runs where it's obvious Franklin is school-aged while Val is supposed to be a Toddler, then recent runs where Franklin is 16/17 while Val is 13/14.

barelysushi2025-12-02 19:12

Asking questions about Franklin's age leads only to madness...

In short, he's generally "older than a toddler, younger than a preteen " but varies WILDLY.

The madness begins with the fact that Franklin Richards is, if not the first, at least the most prominent early "child aging in comics." He was born in the comics and in the 50-ish years since, he's aged to be from anywhere between 5 and 12. Yet everyone around him in the Marvel universe stays the same age.

Someone took Franklin's listed ages in various comics over the years, a well as other characters (typically teen heroes celebrating birthdays) and mapped it out among the real life publishing schedule and realized since Franklin was born one year in continuity maps to six or seven years real time. They theorized that since Franklin has reality warping powers he's been subconsciously slowing down time because there's a part of him who doesn't want to grow up. That's why things like Tony Stark starting off during the Korean War but now it's like, Afghanistan. It also explains why Franklin's friends Artie and Leech have aged oddly: Franklin is keeping them close in age.

The basic idea is Franklin "holds" everyone to the slower time, then every few years real time, they snap forward like a rubber band and reality rewrites itself behind them. Tony was in Korea, hold it in place for years while Tony only ages a year or two, then reality catches up now Tony was in Vietnam because he be too young to be in Korea. Then years later, Tony's origin happened in Afghanistan but Tony is only a few years older than when he debuted and couldn't have possibly been in Vietnam.

I will say that this is ENTIRELY a fan concept and not Canon in any way as far as I know, but it's something that helps explain little things like "Ben Grimm and Reed fought in WWII" without losing your mind. And also why Franklin's age is so strange and hard to get a read on.

mrbaryonyx2025-12-02 19:57

Franklin's dialogue in the comics pre-secret war richochets wildly between "dad, you're so lame haha!" and "daddy I want uppies!"

Vast_Replacement7092025-12-02 23:30

I like the idea that the entire MU is 'his', in that all the causality centers around him or is irrelevant.

barelysushi2025-12-02 23:35

I mean, he's created his own universes already and I think is supposed to be the next Galctus in the next version of the universe? Dude is crazy powerful.

LewisRyan2025-12-02 21:44

Well.

It helps that being a reality warper, Franklin can age up or down as the plot demands.

So he may start the movie at 4, but then something happens and he needs to be an adult to defend himself.

Essentially what I’m saying, is no one knows, and no one will know until it’s out

WitnessDesperate48542025-12-03 11:31

Personally I think Franklin will fill the role molecule man played in the comics, it seems that Galactus viewed him as a power source so without a molecule man in the MCU yet they might use Franklin instead

maybe_a_frog2025-12-03 16:28

Yes, during Secret Wars and the lead up to it Franklin is depicted as a young child of like 5 or 6. Currently he’s a teenager in the comics but that’s a fairly recent change.