Why Doctor Doom is 1 of Marvel’s most Best interesting and enduring characters
Christopher Cantwell has been writing Doctor Doom for eight issues, Cantwell has dug deep behind Doom’s psyche to get a sense of the man behind the iconic mask.
I reached out to Cantwell, a lifelong fan of Doctor Doom, to delve into not only his title—crafted in collaboration with artist Salvador Larroca—but also to understand why the ruler of Latveria and Reed Richards’ archenemy continues to be one of Marvel’s most enduring and beloved villains.
Now with the door wide open, Cantwell delved deeper into what brings him to the character of Doom, questions about his self-perceptions of whether he’s a hero or villain, his views of where he fits in Marvel’s power structure, and what it’ll even take to get Doctor Doom right in live-action—answer: short and sweet, as the man who created Halt and Catch Fire.
”What makes Doctor Doom so timeless and compelling in the Marvel Universe?”
Christopher Cantwell: Doom isn’t a psychopath, he’s not a relentless killer. He has a heart and a soul, but a twisted one. Doom is capable of loving others. I think he has a really hard time allowing himself to be loved. That makes a character that could relate to a lot of people, but then also refuse the connection, or server connections, because of his plethora of hang-ups.
I think Doom might mess up sometimes, but I can’t imagine him going all-out evil and causing a genocide Remember when he turned Nebula into that creepy zombie thing in Infinity Gauntlet? That was messed up But honestly, Doom can be pretty funny and clueless too..
That doesn’t mean he’s not a bad guy Sometimes he does things that remind us of it Like sending his first love to Hell and letting her be taken by devils So, I think there could be endless stories about him..
I’ve been a fan of Doctor Doom since I was a little kid playing with Secret Wars action figures, and he looms large in many peoples’ fandom in similar ways What’s your history with Doom? Well as I type this I’m looking at my own Secret Wars Doctor Doom That was my first encounter with him too When I was young, I was an extravagant Spider-Man reader, so I read that Erik Larsen-illustrated and/or David Michelinie-written Amazing Spider-Man 350 issue over and over and over again I played Doctor Doom’s Revenge on my family PC—a complete waste of space Part of his accessory was the Toy Biz figure with spinning fists (why did it do that)
Nrama: Doom is so much – a megalomaniac, a dictator, a second-to-none scientist, a powerful wizard, and more. What do you consider at the core of who he is, in his heart of hearts, that is not malleable based on his current role?
Doom is a born leader, surprisingly He got kicked out in Latveria, but the Fantastic Four stepped in and fixed things They did some nation-building together In Triumph & Torment, after all the drama, Doom claims he’s the top sorcerer, but honestly, he and Strange make a good team During big crises, people still ask for his advice
Nrama: Your Doctor Doom series gets deep inside Doom’s head, digging into the idea of how he, ultimately, sees himself as a hero. As a creator on the outside, is Doom a hero or villain; therefore, how has that question become so intrinsic to Doom?
Cantwell: He’s both, oftentimes at the same time. And that’s the question that makes him so indelible. He’s the kind of guy who, if he has a righteous end in mind, might do some fucked-up shit to get there, and I don’t think it troubles his conscience all that much. Though he does have a conscience. I’m sure he wishes he didn’t, but he does.
The mystique of Doom’s mask remains because it represents his emotional vulnerability He’s ashamed of it, and the mask hides his scarred face But it also perpetuates his bad side, leading to evil deeds Why?. ‘He can’t be vulnerable because, in reality, I think Doctor Doom is very emotionally vulnerable He is ashamed of that vulnerability, and that weakness is manifest in his scarred face That leaving him with some serious self-worth issues, what is a vain self that needs to be idealized and experienced a certain way to even function The mask also perpetuates the bad sides of his character, leading to sinister, evil deeds the mask also has many different versions.
I think Marvel has changed that version over the years, but it always stood for strong belief and commitment to one’s truth It’s like altering your body forever
”There are full-face versions of the mask, and to me, those hide some of Doom’s humanity What we believe must be considered ‘ugly’ to the character is, interestingly, his eyes That’s a Doctor Doom who’s really hiding; however, this version seems like he wouldn’t want to be human”
”Then there are the masks where it just covers his face, and you can see his hair That’s what we did in our book, and that, to me, is the most interesting”
I don’t really care when his face gets better, like in Secret Wars I guess with a healed face, he could turn into a psycho But mostly, it’s just annoying to see writers try to bring him back to a scarred face, like it’s Doom’s inevitable fate to be messed up
Nrama: I view the dynamic of their relationship as complex and deeply entrenched
”Cantwell: Initially, I had intended for Doom to be the antagonist in Road Trip, but he was scattered across various books at that time, so the story took a different turn I believe Reed and Victor’s interactions inherently contain some dramatic elements”
It’s driving me crazy Maybe this is a weird comparison, but they’re like the Betty and Veronica of the relationship Do they respect each other? Do they just want to kill each other? I don’t think it’s as simple as Reed being the big hero and Doom being the evil villain Reed’s definitely a good guy; Doom’s usually pretty bad But their minds clash a lot
I reckon Reed’s messing with Victor’s mind in ways he can’t even fathom Reed’s like Doom’s ultimate weakness, you know? Always lurking in his thoughts And Reed’s clever enough to realize it So why ain’t he doing more to change that? Maybe he’s content being a permanent fixture in Victor’s head, stirring the pot
Nrama: On that note, how do Reed and Doom’s views of that rivalry differ?
Cantwell: I did go to the University of South California, and there’s just huge, storied rivalry between them and UCLA.
I did my undergraduate studies in early 2000, and USC was just invincible. The game between the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, is always an event to watch. I have to tell you, at least back then in my experience… there was no rivalry. Like, what rivalry?
It was like mowing the grass, playing UCLA. And it was like people at USC shrugged: “Yeah, we saw that coming.” And then there were the UCLA students; oh my God, they were foaming at the mouth: “We’re gonna destroy you!” Whoa. Calm down. Even to this day, if someone tells me they went to UCLA I’m like, “Oh, cool, what’d you study?
But when I say that to someone and they went to UCLA, it’s as if right away they bring up the rivalry. And that’s always in this kind of passive-aggressive joking way, like, ‘Oh man, you’re the evil empire,’ or ‘Player payer, ha!’ or ‘Reggie Bush lost that Heisman,’ or ‘I guess we can’t be friends.’ And I’m just like, baffled.
Like, why do you care so much that you feel you need to bring this up to me? We are grown people. I’m like, ‘That doesn’t matter to me at all.’ And really all I think now is, like, well, then you are probably kind of petty. Then I find myself—at least internally—playing into the rivalry. It’s like, ‘Sorry you played like you were in the YMCA intramural league in the ’00s.’
Talk about how it’s immediately establishing a hierarchy, from them to me. It’s them who established it all. I am not thinking about football. I never do.
So Reed’s like USC and Doom’s like UCLA. Doom brings Reed up any chance he gets no matter what the conversation is about. ‘Hey, I’m gonna go to Starbucks, Victor, want anything—’ ‘I would like Reed Richards’ stretchy head on a platter.’ Reed is all, ‘I’m doing these experiments and saving the world.’
I think Reed thinks about Victor once a week, maybe I reckon Victor wakes up and the first thing on his mind is Reed’s face At Reed’s funeral, he’d probably act all serious and say something like, His mind was something else, and that’d be it But at Victor’s funeral, he’d be bawling his eyes out, clinging to the casket Louder than Sue, for crying out loud
It’s like the Monster mourns for Victor Frankenstein, and Robert Walton is all, ‘You are so full of shit, if he was still alive you would be hunting him down and tormenting and cursing his name, you poseur.’
Nrama:At one point, Doctor Doom was like, officially the smartest dude in the whole Marvel Universe, even beating Reed Richards. He’s also been called the second-greatest sorcerer behind Steven Strange. While those rankings and perceptions have shifted over the years,Doom is the best and most prominent example of what in the Marvel Universe?
Cantwell: Doctor Doom is indelible. I feel like the only thing that sticks to him in the Marvel Universe at this point is his immutability. How many suits of armor does Iron Man have? How many Spider-Man costumes are there? The X-Men are changing their clothes and mission statement every five seconds. The Fantastic Four always have a guest star, or a replacement member—or now, kids.
I mean, I know Victor recently became Infamous Iron Man, but if you think about it, he was just making Iron Man Doom He looked like Doom and did a few things that were barely like Iron Man When Dr Octopus became Spider-Man, he went for it
Captain America is also pretty unforgettable, but it often comes down to whether he’s being Captain America or not Cap is more of a lasting symbol Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, John Walker—half the people in the Marvel Universe can be Captain America Doom is just always Doctor Doom
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I think it’ll take a good balance of storytelling, visuals, and casting to get Doom right in live action
Lee Pace.
Whom you know well from Halt and Catch Fire. interesting.
”What do you think about how Doctor Doom could join the MCU and what role he could have for Marvel Studios?”
I am not sure whether he can just come and fill the role of the big bad, just like Thanos Not that he cannot stoop to that level of villainy, but I think the character is too detailed, complex, and deep for that kind of simplistic role of antagonist
My example: You could do a Beyonder storyline, though. I think a good comparison is the MCU Loki. Have Doom be the big bad of one movie, then have him show up later causing havoc, and then towards the end, he fights alongside heroes. It’s structurally completely different from Loki, but one respects the basic guidelines.
NRAMA: ”What aspects of Doom’s character are you looking forward to exploring in the future, based on what you’ve written and what’s to come? DAN: ”Well, the thing is, there are only two issues of the book left—9 and 10—and I wrote those a long time ago, especially because of the pandemic
This is all of Doctor Doom #9, it’s a Reed/Victor dance, which is an interpretation of Victor’s pathology when it comes to Reed. This is the only issue in the book where I truly deal with the two of them, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I think issue 10 seals up our story nicely and well and serves to show that, despite all of his complexities and intentions, this man is a villain.
I would’ve totally been up for doing a second storyline Seriously, my idea for the second arc was this: Doctor Doom has a stroke in the first issue, and he’s kinda out of commission for a bit, which makes his reign all shaky again
But, believe me, as Doctor Doom starts to realize he’s not immortal, he was actually going to hire or kidnap the top Laterrian music composer to make her write an opera that would tell the story of Latrevia’s greatness, and his own But as it’s being written, Doom begins to think about the not-so-great things he did in the past So, for some parts, he tweaks the history to make himself look better, while for others, he lays it all out honestly, like an open wound
It was going to be written completely from the viewpoint of the composer. The Forms for this came from the film Amadeus, where Salieri is desperate to keep up with the dying Mozart as he composes the Requiem.
