Avengers: Doomsday will finally do justice to Marvel's greatest supervillain, who hasn't appeared on screen in over 11 years. The Marvel universe is home to many compelling supervillains, many of whom are already in the MCU, such as Thanos, Loki, Ultron, Kingpin, and Green Goblin. However, Marvel Studios has previously been unable to adapt some of the all-time greats, like X-Men foe Magneto and Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom, as their film rights were held up at 20th Century Fox, which Disney acquired in 2019.
Doom has been adapted before under 20th Century Fox in 2005's Fantastic Four, 2007's Rise of the Silver Surfer, and 2015's Fant4stic. At one point, shortly before Disney acquired Fox, the studio was even cooking up a Doctor Doom solo flick from Alien: Earth and Legion creator Noah Hawley. It was described as a "Cold War, geopolitical movie" that saw a journalist visit Doom's kingdom of Latveria, but the project was canceled due to the Fox acquisition.
Despite having two tries at Doctor Doom come to fruition - played by the late Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell - Fox never got Marvel's greatest villain right. As Hawley's standalone movie never took off, Avengers: Doomsday will be the first time in 11 years that Doctor Doom has prominently appeared in live-action.
5 Ways Avengers: Doomsday Is Fixing Doctor Doom For the MCU
The MCU Nails Doom's Suit
Doom's costume should represent his status as an Eastern European monarch, highlighting his genius and blending sorcerer's robes with medieval armor.
Those elements have been sorely lacking in the past, as Julian McMahon's suit had all the right pieces but looked rather cheap, while Toby Kebbell's took a strange body-horror route, with metal fused to his skin and a cyborg-esque design.
For the first time ever, Doom is finally appearing under Marvel Studios in Avengers: Doomsday, and there's no denying that his suit has all of the aura, grandeur, and classic components to make an intimidating supervillain suit.
Magical Powers, Not Electro 2.0
During both of Fox's Fantastic Four iterations, Doctor Doom got his superpowers in space right alongside Marvel's First Family. In 2005, Julian McMahon's Doom became an Electro-like with electric powers, and, in 2015, Toby Kebbell's iteration received telekinesis, neither of which is like the comics.
Marvel Studios already hyped up that its Doom will be a "master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic," confirming that Downey Jr.'s take will be the Doctor Strange-level sorcerer that fans know from the comics, who has even traveled to hell to battle Mephisto for his mother's soul in past comics.
Find out Doom's six greatest superpowers that the MCU needs to adapt.
Doom Is a Calculated Manipulator
Beyond his immense magical expertise, Doctor Doom's greatest superpower is arguably his intellect, which allows him to manipulate situations and people, though that talent was largely absent from previous movie adaptations. Victor von Doom has often been known to manipulate events from the shadows toward his endgame through deceptive alliances, false intentions, and betrayal.
All signs suggest that Doom's calculated manipulation will be on full display in Doomsday, reportedly acting as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" as he teams up with the heroes through "noble intentions" before betraying them. That could even make RDJ's Doom the architect of the conflict between the Avengers and X-Men, perhaps to distract them from his own larger plan.
Doom Finally Plays the Game of Thrones
In Marvel Comics, Doctor Doom is famously the ruler of Latveria, a fictional Eastern European country where he was born to a Romani tribe and returned years later with his newfound intellect and mystical powers to seize control.
Latveria thrived under his rule as a secure technological utopia, free of problems like crime, poverty, and health care that plague the rest of the world. Ultimately, Doctor Doom rules because he believes he is the only one smart enough to forge such a perfect society with order and safety, albeit limited personal freedom.
2005's Fantastic Four reduced Doom to a money-hungry billionaire CEO, and Fant4stic knocked him down to a computer technician. While both Dooms came from Latveria, they never got close to being a monarch, something which will be resolved in Doomsday as RDJ's Variant takes the throne of Earth-828's Latveria.
Threatening the Entire Marvel Multiverse
Doctor Doom's origins in Marvel Comics lie in 1962's Fantastic Four #2, and his greatest personal grudge has always been with Reed Richards and his team ever since, but the Latverian ruler has frequently threatened the entire Marvel universe.
Many consider Doctor Doom and his unique blend of magic and technology to be Marvel's big bad, having also faced off against Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and the Avengers due to his limitless ambition. Doom is capable of taking on much more than just the Fantastic Four, as fans will finally see this year.
The MCU is finally adapting Doom's biggest story to date, as 2015's Secret Wars will serve as the inspiration for Phase 6's climactic Avengers movies, executing the villain's grandest plan yet: "saving" the Multiverse by creating Battleworld.
Why I'm Still Worried About the MCU's Doctor Doom
That's not to say that the MCU's Doctor Doom will be completely comic-accurate, as Marvel Studios is also making some major changes to the mythos. The studio has reportedly thrown a deceased wife and child into the villain's origin story, but that's not the change that has the potential to unravel Avengers: Doomsday.
Despite Doom's famous rivalry in Marvel Comics being with Reed Richards, his MCU Variant's problem is supposedly with Chris Evans' Steve Rogers. Somehow, the former Captain America is believed to be at fault for Doom losing his family, sparking fears that his hatred for the Fantastic Four's leaders will be brushed over.
Not only that, RDJ's Doom is rumored to team up with Pedro Pascal's Mr. Fantastic in Avengers 5, which isn't exactly in character for him. While the scientific geniuses are usually lifelong rivals and mortal enemies, it seems their feud will only begin with Doomsday before continuing into Secret Wars and beyond.
There is also the issue of whether two movies will be ample enough time to flesh out Doom enough to the point that fans are satisfied with him. Doom has a lot of baggage and trying to play catch-up across two movies could still prove challenging.
Ultron is getting eight episodes to be properly explored, with the most recent trailer teasing a complicated family relationship with his son and grandson. Victor von Doom arguably has even more going on with him, considering his backstory and all the corners of the Marvel universe that he touches, so it will certainly be an uphill battle to convincingly do him justice with presumably less screentime.
Regardless of how well Marvel Studios depicts Doctor Doom, it's safe to say the Robert Downey Jr. casting will always be controversial. Beyond the obvious echoes of Iron Man that will reverberate through Doomsday, many were hoping for a Romani actor to portray Doom in line with his heritage from the comics.
Ultimately, audiences will need to wait for Doomsday and Secret Wars to see how the MCU's Doctor Doom lives up to the comics. Those eager for accuracy will need to hold out hope that Marvel Studios exercises restraint and avoids linking Doom back to Tony Stark, which could risk splitting the fanbase in a major way.
