Let's not mince words here; I am probably the biggest mark for Dr Doom. He is my favorite Marvel character next to Spider-Man, is my favorite fictional villain, and is probably in my top 3 comic book characters ever. Whenever my neurodivergence goes brrr and I need something to hyperfixate on, it's usually either Doom or Zelda I blab on about.
So, naturally, when THIS was revealed, I'm gonna have some words about it. Some positive, some negative, some just plain anecdotal; but certainly words.
You see, Dr Doom is probably the one character who has been the most squandered throughout the entirety of Marvel's cinematic history, likely even comic book movies in general. To this day, the best live action depiction of the character is still the unreleased Fantastic Four movie from the 90s.
Which is really disappointing, because Dr Doom is any writer's blessing: He is as simple or as complex as the narrative needs him to be. So why, then, does it seem so difficult to get the character right? Do they believe their artistic liberties should supercede the source material? If so, how far can one remove an adaptation from the source material until it's only using an existing intellectual property for familiarity's sake?
There is an argument going around lately whether an adaptation should not be comic-accurate when it serves the narrative, which at a certain point I can agree with. But when a character is butchered to such an extent that they are the character in name only, it is no longer an adaptation, at that point you are telling your own story with the familiar name as a vehicle.
This is what I will call the Deadpool Threshold.
GodzillaMendoza covered this concept in extensive detail, but before the Deadpool movie in 2016, Deadpool was a very misunderstood and misrepresented character. In the comics, Deadpool is sarcastic and snarky, using quips and dark humor to mask his own psychological and physical pain, breaking the fourth wall occasionally and rarely drawing too much attention to it. He had an online reputation, however, for practically being a hyper-violent Looney Tunes character with swords and guns. The video games catered to this this public perception of him, Marvel vs Capcom 3 especially, as he was constantly moving, constantly shouting, and hitting his opponents with health bars, and referencing internet memes that were dated even at the time.
This seemed to be an over-correction for his depiction in Xmen Origins: Wolverine, where he was misrepresented in the opposite way. In the beginning, as Wade Wilson, his characterization was somewhat accurate, up until the end where they made him into Weapon 11, who was injected with a bunch of different mutant powers (which is apparently something you can do) and adamantium, and in Ryan Reynold's own words “He's the Merc With the Mouth but they sowed his mouth shut.”
Ryan, displeased with this depiction of the Deadpool character, funded his own project which would feature a standalone, more comic-faithful version of the character. In this movie, the tragedy behind the comedy is explored, and he only breaks the Fourth Wall in the beginning and a few times after that.
Deadpool was well-liked enough to get a sequel. In Deadpool 2, he makes a lot more meta-jokes, and in the end there is a sequence where he goes back in time and kills the Weapon 11 version of himself, and even the “real life” version of Ryan Reynolds signing on to the Green Lantern movie. Then, the third movie is a meta-commentary on the Fox Xmen universe and Disney's ownership of these IPs and their business practices involving them. Which, while your enjoyment of these movies may vary, is dangerously skirting that line of flanderization yet again.
Now back to Doom.
For those of you unfamiliar with the comics, you may be wondering where all this talk of accuracy and faithfulness is even coming from, after all Avengers:Doomsday was just announced and we barely know anything other than Robert Downey Jr will be playing Dr Doom in it.
But that's just it. Victor von Doom was a Romani child raised in an oppressed developing nation, his past trauma is what molded him into what he is today. RDJ is not Romani, so that crucial element of his character is missing. Could any well-known actor play a Romani character? Sure, but I don't think something like that can be done without coming across as disrespectful. No, what I think they are trying to do with RDJ as Doom is that they are using the infinite possibilities of the Multiverse to establish this version of Doctor Doom as a Tony Stark variant, and is the ultimate logical conclusion of his “suit of armor around the world” goal. That is what I gathered from his “new mask, same task” comment.
Now, this CAN work, and I have faith in RDJs performance. But it's not the Doom that I wanted.
There's no reason that any studio should cater to my needs specifically, and comic book movies shouldn't just be carbon copies of the source material. Certain things can be tweaked to fit the feature length of a movie and the story they need to tell.
A little while ago, I was having a discussion with fellow blogger and former g1 Imperator100 about the Arkhamverse Batman series. His most known traits such as his investigation skills, combat prowess and ingenuity were all incorporated into the gameplay. In Arkham Origins, Batman was depicted as a mythic, supernatural figure. The Arkham games (at least up to Arkham Knight) are among the most faithful adaptations of Batman, and yet the series takes bold risks such as killing off the Joker permanently, which would never be possible in the source material due to the almighty comic book status quo. We reached the conclusion that liberties should be taken, but never at the expense of the spirit of a character, which I believe should be the takeaway here.
My favorite story featuring Doctor Doom is the Mighty Avengers graphic novel Emperor Doom, in which Doctor Doom takes over the world via harnessing Purple Man's mind control abilities. In doing so, he ends the world's international conflicts, successfully creating a world without war.
In doing so he forces the Avengers to face a very narratively compelling ethical dilemma: Is freedom worth sacrificing for peace?
It's a great story, but it can't really be told without all the prior context. You kind of need to establish him as a more grounded rival to the Fantastic Four before upping the scale to that.
That was one of the few things that the first Fantastic Four movie got right: his rivalry and pettiness towards Reed Richards and his extended family. He is the antithesis to the Fantastic Four because they are a family, and he in contrast believes he can do everything alone.
In the comics, it's because of his upbringing which instilled in him trust issues. Whenever Reed tried to help him out of kindness, he couldn't see it as anything other than him having an ulterior motive, which was only ever confirmed in his mind whenever a plan backfired due to his own ego or short-sightedness. Deep down, he covets the Fantastic Four for the family they have and wants that too, but is too prideful to ever admit it.
In the movie, no reason is ever given much deeper than something something cosmic rays.
In the second movie, because of the events of the previous one, he is permanently scarred, and seeks revenge against the Fantastic Four for his defeat, and steals the Silver Surfer's board and cosmic power, which is a lot closer to his comic counterpart. A step in the right direction, but still no Latveria, still no grandstanding theatrics, still no mystic arts, and still not much of his own technology beyond the suit he made over his already metal body. Since then, I've waited for a more faithful representation of Doom to appear on the big screen. (I honestly skipped Fant4stic because the trailers and early reviews told me all I needed to know.)
In 2009 we got Iron Man, which springboarded into an expansive multimedia project featuring a cast that (mostly) kept true to the spirit of those characters during the Infinity Saga. After adapting so many great characters, I kept waiting for some mention of Latveria or the Ancient One mentioning someone else as gifted as Strange in sorcery. They mentioned Wakanda as far back as Age of Ultron, I would have at least expected a Latverian embassy member in Wakanda Forever or something. It's just absurd to me in retrospect that we got characters like Eros and Pip, Howard the Duck, and Ego the Living Planet before we ever got such an iconic Marvel staple as Doctor Doom. Heck, I would have been excited for Squirrel Girl at one point.
I just sort of moved on since then, deciding to stop holding my breath. But then there was that little tease in Moon Knight, that comic of the 2015 Secret Wars in Deadpool and Wolverine, and finally the Doomsday announcement. It all feels too little too late now. And at the same time, too early?
See, I would much rather Kang's story play out and eventually progress into Doom as the new antagonist. Imagine if this was never revealed and we got an Avengers movie before Doomsday where who they think is Tony Stark helps them defeat Kang, THEN at the end he reveals he's been Dr Doom the whole time which would lead into the next movie. I still would have had my reservations about it, but man what a missed opportunity.
Instead, the Russo Brothers want to adapt Secret Wars. The 1984 and 2015 Secret Wars are both good, and they seem to be bringing elements from both, but like my example with Emperor Doom it doesn't really work without all the progression of Doom's story up to that point. You can't really do Beyonder Doom, much less God Emperor Doom without building up to it first.
Perhaps they will introduce a more grounded version of Doom in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie before then, but I don't think everyone will see it before they would a new Avengers movie (general audiences don't care enough to do homework, especially when plot lines outright contradict or clash with each other, looking at you WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness), plus it's still quite a leap from a family-oriented story to Doom becoming a cosmic threat.
In the meantime, I'll always have these other amazing interpretations of the character to look back on, and at the end of the day this is just another interpretation. It's just a shame that Hollywood never gave Doctor Doom as much respect and love for the source material as Iron Man or Captain America, I would have loved to see that. Maybe RDJ's Doom will pleasantly surprise me. I honestly hope it does.
If you're looking for faithful adaptations of Doom that aren't just limited to live action, I would recommend the Fantastic Four animated series, his brief appearances in Earth's Mightiest Heroes (he only shows up twice for a few minutes at a time, but both episodes are worth watching in full to understand his role in their story) his episode in Iron Man: Armored Adventures, and there was even a Spider-Man TAS episode that featured Doctor Doom in a heavily abridged version of the 1985 Secret Wars (though I would strongly recommend reading the comic instead).
If you can tolerate Doom being the only serious character with everyone else being annoying, then his appearances in Avengers Assembled and Ultimate Spider-Man are worth checking out. Obnoxious depictions of the main cast aside, it has some standout moments from him, such as summoning Jormungandr the Norse World Serpent, and some of my favorite speaking lines of his in all of his media.
If you want pure, unfiltered Doom straight from the source, I would encourage you to read the source material, with my personal essentials guide, preferably in this order:
Fantastic 4 (1960s): #5,6, and 16
Books of Doom #1 (2005)
Dr Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment
Mighty Avengers featuring Doctor Doom: Emperor Doom
Secret Wars 1985
Secret Wars 2015
Infamous Iron Man
And, if you are so bold, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #21
The current run of comics are also great. When the sun and moon disappeared from the sky and vampires overran the Earth (You know, standard comic book stuff), Doom received the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme from Dr Strange in order to complete a ritual that would remove the veil of darkness. Strange surrendered the title to him with the understanding that it would be temporary, on the condition he would give it back once the world was saved. Thanks to the vagueness of their oath, he is Sorcerer Supreme until he considers the world saved.
He is now the one people go to for help during times of crisis or for supernatural assistance, such as when he teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy stop Dormammu from breaching. It is unclear what he intends to do in the meantime, which is great, since this narrative device builds tension and allows him to still be a direct antagonist without undoing all of his character development from Infamous Iron Man. This is honestly the best way to handle the character in the current state of Marvel right now, and I hope Marvel's Hollywood division is taking notes.
I just hope they don't have him do something irredeemably evil to reestablish Dr Doom as a stagnant villain, like they seem to do every time he has a redemptive arc.
So with all that being said, Doctor Doom will remain my favorite Marvel character regardless of how the MCU handles him. I hope you can agree with at least some of my points. I have been Hero's Shade and I'll see you all next time.
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