Doctor Doom was front and centre in 2005's Fantastic Four, 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and once again stepped into the spotlight in the disastrous 2015 reboot, Fantastic 4. However, none of those movies did right by Victor Von Doom.
Marvel Studios hopes to change that in next month's Avengers: Doomsday, with Oscar-winner and former Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr., set to don Doom's imposing armour.
Some alterations are being made to his backstory—including him having a son—but according to Joe Russo, the first half of the two-part Multiverse Saga finale aims to finally do right by Doctor Doom.
"[He] is a Gothic character," the filmmaker tells Empire. "He says, ‘Hell answers to me,’ and he’s not kidding. He’s a very powerful character with some very dark magic, and he’s not above selling his soul to get what he wants."
"He’s worth being scared of. He’s a father who’s a victim of trauma. He has lost a child," Joe continued. "When people see the film, they say it’s a very scary movie. It’s scary because he’s so profoundly damaged."
Anthony, meanwhile, chimed in to explain the difference between Doom and Thanos. "Doom is much more ego-driven than Thanos," he said of the Infinity Saga's big bad. "Thanos believed he was serving a greater good."
Downey alluded to that by describing his villainous turn as "glorious" and teasing, "I like a bit of scorched earth. Whatever you think he may be entertaining, I would ten times it, and you’ll probably be closer to the ballpark."
Of course, with Downey beneath Doom's mask, many fans are convinced that he must be playing a Tony Stark Variant (one of the weirdest theories suggests that, on Earth-828, Tony was put up for adoption and became the evil Victor). That's not the case, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
"Is Steve Rogers a Johnny Storm variant?" he asked. "People wondered, ‘Is Doom just a variant of another character? Is this just a shortcut to bringing back another character?’ The answer is no. He’s Victor Von Doom."
Empire has also released a new still of Doom, along with a shot of the battle between Shang-Chi (now confirmed to be part of Sam Wilson's Avengers team) and the X-Men's Gambit.
"It really reminded me of [Shang-Chi’s] bus fight," Simu Liu said of the showdown. "Not in the structure, but the way that the filmmakers approached it. I have two comfort zones — one is comedy, and one is action. This movie allowed me to do both. Shang will kick as much ass as he possibly can."
Check out this new look at Avengers: Doomsday below.
In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, India Rose Hemsworth, and Wesley Holloway all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn, joined by X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden, plus Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
The Russo Brothers direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron has also been enlisted to refine the story, alongside Spider-Man: Brand New Day's Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18.