FANTASTIC FOUR Stars Ioan Gruffudd And Michael Chiklis Pay Tribute To Late Doctor Doom Actor Julian McMahon

FANTASTIC FOUR Stars Ioan Gruffudd And Michael Chiklis Pay Tribute To Late Doctor Doom Actor Julian McMahon

Charmed and Runaways star Julian McMahon passed away earlier this week, and his Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer co-stars have now shared emotional tributes for their co-star.

By JoshWilding - Jul 06, 2025 03:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four

On Friday, the news broke that Fantastic Four star Julian McMahon had passed away following a private battle with cancer. The actor was known for numerous projects, including the hit series Nip/Tuck, but became synonymous with Doctor Doom after portraying the villain in two films. 

McMahon was only 56, making the news he'd died even harder to fathom. Now, two of his Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer co-stars have paid homage to someone they clearly had a great deal of love and respect for. 

Mister Fantastic actor Ioan Gruffudd wrote, "This is terribly sad news about Julian. Even though we played each other’s nemeses, there was always so much lightness and laughter working together. Every encounter with him was a joy."

"It was an honor to be Dr. Richards to his Dr. Doom," the Welsh actor added. "My heart goes out to his wife and family. God speed Julian."

Michael Chiklis, who played The Thing, also shared a tribute. "I’m devastated to hear of the passing of my friend Julian. Life is so precious and fragile. My condolences to his family. RIP Jules."

While Chris Evans reprised his role as a Human Torch Variant in Deadpool & Wolverine, there has been nothing to indicate that any of the Fantastic Four cast was being eyed for a return in the upcoming Avengers movies, Doomsday and Secret Wars

Despite that, Julian spoke positively of plans for Robert Downey Jr. to take over the role, and frequently expressed an interest in playing a much darker, twisted version of Victor Von Doom should the opportunity ever present itself. He'd get a second chance at playing a Marvel villain with a standout performance in Runaways

Julian left an indelible mark not just on his co-stars but on the entertainment industry, too. Born in Sydney to Sir William McMahon, former Australian Prime Minister, and Lady Sonia, he initially pursued modelling, and his acting career began with Australian soap operas, with Home and Away being the most notable.

In Hollywood, he gained recognition as Ian Rain in Another World and Agent John Grant in Profiler. His defining role came as the morally complex Dr. Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck, earning him a Golden Globe nomination. Julian also portrayed Cole Turner in Charmed and later returned to the Marvel Universe as the villainous Jonah in Runaways. He most recently appeared alongside Nicolas Cage in The Surfer.

"With an open heart, I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer," his wife, Kelly, said earlier this week. "Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible."

"We ask for support during this time to allow our family to grieve in privacy. And we wish for all of those to whom Julian brought joy, to continue to find joy in life. We are grateful for the memories."

You can see Gruffudd and Chiklis' social media tributes below. 

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MarvelousMarty
MarvelousMarty - 7/6/2025, 3:58 AM
He was a great villian.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/6/2025, 4:03 AM
@MarvelousMarty - One of the things that made him such a great villain was that everything on the surface, his performance etc. was evil but there was still an innate warmth to him.
Canyoublush
Canyoublush - 7/6/2025, 5:03 AM
@MarvelousMarty - He was sick in niptuck.
MisterDoctor217
MisterDoctor217 - 7/6/2025, 4:15 AM
This is so sad
They are my Fantastic 4

And he was my Dr Doom

They were such bug parts of my childhood
I used those movies as an escape from my loneliness

RIP
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 7/6/2025, 7:08 AM
He was one of the best things about those movies. His doom character wise was very bad but that's not his fault. He did the best with what he had and he had good chemistry with the cast. Would have been awesome for him to show up in secret wars. Maybe him and Downey could have had some scenes together before Downey gets rid of him.

RIP. To the best doctor Doom out of the 3 so far.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/6/2025, 11:32 AM
@Mrcool210 - even though the 90’s film is fully unreleased , I think Joseph Culp personally takes the cake for me just on how theatrical he is which makes me enjoy his performance

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi901037849/

While I wasn’t a big fan of the Storyverse version of Dr Doom , I thought McMahon played the character well especially in regards to his ego.
dragon316
dragon316 - 7/6/2025, 8:24 AM
Best doom we had yet
WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 7/6/2025, 9:22 AM
Cancer is horrible. 56 is way too young
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/6/2025, 11:39 AM
Nice to see condolences from Chiklis and Gruffudd , hopefully Alba and Evans follow suit.

He’s an actor whose work i hadn’t seen a lot of but always enjoyed , even in the FF films tbh (also I never got to finish Runaways but he was good in that from what I saw too).

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[frick] Cancer!!.
RitoRevolto
RitoRevolto - 7/6/2025, 1:00 PM
Cancer needs to [frick] off.

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