Doctor Doom’s comics legacy is so much bigger than his Iron Man connections

As San Diego Comedian-Con attendees roared on the announcement of Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the 59-year-old actor assured his followers that whereas he’ll be wearing a new mask in Avengers: Doomsday, his (or not less than his character’s) bigger job would largely be the identical. It was an fascinating alternative of phrases to explain Marvel’s new plan to introduce Victor von Doom with a twist, simply as a recent model of the Incredible 4 is scheduled to make its huge display screen debut. 

The Doomsday announcement and information of RDJ’s Doom casting instantly learn as Marvel betting that it would be capable to win audiences again with one other huge cinematic occasion constructed round an individual whose face and voice have long since become synonymous with Iron Man. And it’s not arduous to know why Marvel thought that weaving Doom and Iron Man’s tales collectively is perhaps a intelligent option to pivot away from the studio’s now-discarded plans for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. 

The metal-masked tremendous scientists have at all times been a few of Marvel’s most fascinating characters in comics the place their reputations as uniquely sensible intellects have sometimes led to them butting heads, cooperating, and — in a single occasion — changing into each other. As many have famous, there’s undoubtedly some comics precedent for the Stark-as-Doom flip that Doomsday appears to be establishing. However the factor that has at all times made Physician Doom a compelling determine is the best way he exists independently from his friends whereas doing every part in his energy as an example his superiority over them. And it’s going to be arduous for the MCU to faucet into that power if Doom is anybody however himself.

First showing in The Incredible 4 #5, Physician Doom was launched as a maniac with a helicopter and a dream of utilizing the Incredible 4 to steal enchanted relics from pirates within the distant previous. Although Marvel’s first household already had its justifiable share of supervillains, Doom’s grandiosity and hanging design set him aside from the likes of Mole Man and the alien Skrulls. He was an outdated school buddy of Reed Richards and a gifted engineer in his personal proper with a knack for the supernatural. However he was additionally a proud, boastful man whose early encounters with demise left him hardened to the world and distrustful of these he couldn’t management like his mechanical Doombots.

These points of Doom’s character grew to become simpler to know following Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Incredible 4 Annual #2, which fleshed out his origins within the fictional, Jap European nation of Latveria the place his mom, a Romani lady named Cynthia, was murdered for training witchcraft. That story added new depth to Doom’s use of magic in his quest for world conquest and his insistence on returning to Latveria to rule as its king. Nevertheless it additionally helped set up how Physician Doom might in the end grow to be a frequent participant in a lot of Marvel’s huge comics occasions involving beings from different planes of existence and teams-ups between different villains.

As Physician Doom grew to become the Incredible 4’s signature archnemesis, Marvel additionally leaned into the thought of him being considered one of many geniuses — like Iron Man, Physician Unusual, and Black Panther — who might (not less than privately) recognize each other’s uncooked skills. Although Doom would usually somewhat die than acknowledge Reed as an mental equal, their fights had been typically rooted in a shared sense of being the one folks able to going toe-to-toe with one another. That sense of animosity may be felt in moments just like the difficult beginning of Valeria Richards — Reed and Sue Storm’s daughter whose supply required Doom’s help and his changing into her godfather — and it has continued to maintain the Incredible 4’s (prolonged) household dynamic fascinating in newer years.

There have been rumors that the cinematic reboot Incredible 4: First Steps will characteristic one of many staff’s youngsters, which might gel with director Matt Shakman’s latest assertion that the movie will gloss over origins we’re all accustomed to to get proper into the Galactus-flavored meat of its story. However whereas it will make good sense for Doom to point out up within the MCU together with Reed and the gang, it presently looks like Marvel intends to debut him in Doomsday with a plot that by some means explains why he appears to be like so much like Tony Stark, who died in Avengers: Endgame.

With a multiverse filled with variants now in play, Marvel might reveal that, in one other actuality, the determine the viewers acknowledges as Tony Stark is simply named Victor as an alternative and has a keenness for the colour inexperienced somewhat than purple. The studio might current Physician Doom as a darkish Iron Man who by no means got here to see his weapons-derived wealth as one thing to be atoned for. It’s additionally simple to think about Marvel execs taking one have a look at Alex Maleev’s cowl for Notorious Iron Man #1 and instantly deciding that the MCU could possibly be saved with a really costly palette swap.

It might be stunning if Marvel had been even fascinated by touching Civil Warfare II — the crossover occasion that laid the groundwork for Doom taking over the Iron Man mantle in Notorious. However very similar to Doom’s existence as a persistent thorn within the sides of Marvel’s heroes, each comics sequence had been key elements of what made his flip to heroism compelling.

After years of Physician Doom attempting to kill the Avengers and the Incredible 4, it was surprising to see him setting his grievances apart to grow to be Iron Man when Tony Stark now not bodily might. Slightly than respect or obedience, Doom’s Iron Man period was formed by a want to assist shield the world from folks like himself whose violent compulsions eclipsed their potential to do good issues. 

Notorious Iron Man used its supporting solid of heroes and villains — all of whom had loads of beef with Doom — to discover what it actually means for somebody to have an existential change of coronary heart and the way an individual’s phrases can solely accomplish that a lot to undo issues that they’ve performed. And whereas it wasn’t lengthy earlier than Doom was again to carrying his normal cape and masks ensemble, the time he spent as Iron Man helped hammer residence how rather more fascinating the character is when he’s allowed to exist in a morally grey space surrounded by folks with justifiably difficult emotions about him.

The MCU’s motion pictures have by no means been 1-to-1 diversifications of the comics, and Doomsday is probably going going to characteristic a mixture of concepts pulling from Physician Doom’s lengthy historical past. However an necessary a part of that historical past is Doom being a widely known adversary to the world’s heroes — one whose actions have impressed hatred and hope in all of them at numerous closing dates. 

That form of textual significance is one thing Marvel spent years cultivating within the books with tales that understood how the most effective heroes and villains are outlined by their relationships somewhat than their harebrained concepts for international domination. And that’s one thing Avengers: Doomsday may need a tough time nailing when it hits theaters in 2026.