How romantic.
Victor, please.
Call me Doom.
The Fantastic Four are the founding members of the Marvel
universe, and their chief antagonist, Dr. Doom,
is arguably the biggest enemy of Marvel's entire publishing
line.
And yet, everyone's favorite Latverian
has struggled to be accurately adapted to the big screen.
But before we get too deep into today's topic,
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First appearing in Fantastic Four number five, Victor von
Doom, the scientist, magician, and politician
fits many of the classic tropes of pulp villains.
He's an aristocrat ne'er do well who
grew over a 70 year publishing career
into being one of the most fearsome antagonists
ever to appear on the printed page.
Originally from the fictional nation state of Latveria,
von Doom was depicted in his early four color appearances
as a classmate of Reed Richards.
While working on a science experiment,
things took a turn for the worse.
Von Doom was horrifically scarred.
This instilled in him a goal of revenge against Mr. Fantastic
and gives him the idea to create a suit of armor that
will serve as his greatest asset in his war
on the residents of the Baxter Building.
Revenge at last, Richards!
Doom's first appearance outside the printed page
was on the episode "Dr. Doom's Day"
in a segment of the 1966 animated program the Marvel
Superheroes.
Since then, he's appeared countless times
across roughly a dozen animated programs.
However, his first live action debut
came in the form of the 1994 Roger Corman produced
Fantastic Four feature film.
Regrettably, it was never released
to the public due to rights issues.
Pitiful.
Subsequently, when Tim Story's 2005 film
Fantastic Four finally got off the ground,
it introduced the villain in question.
Played by rising star Julian McMahon to audiences
and legions of fans who were eagerly anticipating
seeing a big budget rendition of the quintessential nemesis.
Only problem being they got generic business tycoon Electro
in a weird green coat with metal skin.
None of Doom's regality, his super genius,
or even his motivations beyond just like third rate Lex Luther
manifested in the finished film.
Did things get a little better in 2007's Fantastic Four
Rise of the Silver Surfer?
Come and get it, Richards.
Marginally.
The story shows Silver Surfer's cosmic energy
freeing doom from his metal bioskin
and restoring him to his human form.
Only he's now horribly scarred.
Sure, it's close enough, but then of course the movie
has to do this.
They do away with Doom by just knocking him into the ocean.
Neither of these Tim Story films do any of the characters
justice, but the way they handle Dr. Doom hurts most of all.
This is what a man looks like who embraces his destiny.
And then we have Josh Trank's 2015 film Fantastic Four,
which had Toby Kebbell playing our favorite once
and future dictator.
Would this version be better?
No, this is probably the worst of the bunch.
I'm going to fix this.
You can't fix this.
In this version, he's an astronaut scientist
who gets marooned on Planet Zero, hit
with crazy cosmic radiation, and his body merges with his suit.
And then gains telekinetic powers.
The reason that Doom works in the comics
and is arguably the best big bad of all time
is the fact that the character's internal trauma
fuels his external mastery of multiple disciplines.
He studied with Tibetan monks in order to be a dark warlock.
He's gone to school in order to be a super genius level
scientist.
He's willed himself into being a freedom fighter that
has staged a rebellion and then set himself up
as a de facto ruler of an impoverished eastern European
country.
He's even conned Doctor Strange into helping him on a sojourn
into the bowels of hell to attempt
to free the soul of his mother.
If that's not commitment to an idea, I don't know what is.
And yet, when he makes the jump to the big screen,
all of those elements are discarded over and over
and over again.
They can't even commit to the idea that his name is Dr. Doom.
There is no Victor.
There is only Doom.
He's arguably the greatest villain in comics history,
and he's been adapted into live action on four
separate occasions, and they're all terrible.
They all pale in comparison to the character's
potential scope, of what Lee and Kirby established,
and what the armies of creators since have developed.
Doom is a character that's an amalgamation.
He's Dr. Frankenstein, Merlin, Dr. Moreau,
and countless other iconic villains rolled into one.
Doom works so well because he's the polar opposite
of the Fantastic Four.
They're a family.
They need each other.
They all have glaring flaws and weaknesses
that the other members of the team compensate for.
However, Doom's ego and self-centeredness
prevents him from finding a family
to solve his own weaknesses and pain,
which leads to the symbiotic relationship between Doom
and the Fantastic Four.
Doom literally wants to be Reed, and he
hates Reed at the same time.
I hate you.
All of you.
During Secret War, Doom pulled in the various members
of the Fantastic Four and made them his family,
adopting Valeria and Franklin, and taking Sue as his wife.
This version of Doom's unchecked ego
is grounded in emotional vulnerability
while still being operatic and Shakespearean.
Perfect material for the big screen.
This is exactly the type of thematic throughline
that all of these film adaptations miss.
Doom and the Fantastic Four are a part of a single organism.
They need to be connected thematically and literally.
Doom is all of the competency and skill
of four people instilled into a single individual.
Doom is Reed's intellect, Johnny Storm's charisma
and theatrical personality, the strength of the Thing,
and passion of Sue Storm.
These elements are all represented
by his autodidactic approach to skill a cruel and undiluted
willpower.
But Doom is alone.
He has no one to check him, and therefore, his ego
is out of control.
He's adrift in a sea of self-aggrandizement,
and this is always his undoing.
Doom's complexity is what makes him interesting.
His love for Sue Storm and his hatred
for Reed Richards, his constant feuding
with the Thing, his objective brilliance and the Achilles
heel of his ego.
This is why Doom's upcoming inclusion into the MCU
feels so perfect.
It's been confirmed that Doom is going to appear in the MCU
at some point, and it would stand
to reason that he's going to be the primary antagonist
in the Fantastic Four film that's going to open phase six.
My friend, I have prepared well for this day.
Additionally, it's been confirmed
that Secret Wars is going to be the final film of phase six.
We have a whole video about Secret Wars if you're curious.
There's a link in the description
and at the end of this video.
In short, Doom steals the power of the Beyonds,
forges a dimension made from shards
of the Marvel multiverse, and anoints himself as a god.
It's one of the best things Marvel has published maybe
ever.
The fact that they're doing an adaptation of Secret Wars
means they're inherently on the right path.
This means they're setting Doom up as a threat
with real stakes.
They obviously get the fact that to do Doom right,
you can't think small.
You can't have a business tycoon mindset
or a scientist marooned on another dimension approach
to the character.
Doom is a big swing.
He doesn't work any other way.
There's no grounded low stakes version of the character.
They've tried those approaches to the character,
and they just don't have legs.
To think, I was about to share my life with you.
Dr. Doom is a man that is arguably the antagonist
of an entire universe.
And if done correctly, he could give Marvel
the greatest second act any franchise has ever seen.
And that's it for this one.
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