Super Hero Worship: How a Depressed Doctor Doom Became Marvel's Most Fascinating Hero

Super Hero Worship is simply a regular sentiment file by IGN’s Senior Staff Writer Jesse Schedeen. Check retired the erstwhile Super Hero Worship entry, Robert Pattinson's Batman Has No Business Being successful James Gunn's DCU.

Doctor Doom has good and genuinely cemented his presumption arsenic Marvel’s top villain by now. What’s not to love? He’s got boundless ambition and an adjacent bigger ego. He’s successfully taken implicit the satellite much than once. He had a little stint arsenic the self-proclaimed God Emperor of each reality. And nary of that tin afloat disguise the information that he’s a profoundly flawed and self-loathing antheral who can’t get implicit his decades-old feud with his intelligence rival and erstwhile roommate.

Strangely enough, Doom has besides emerged arsenic Marvel’s astir compelling leader implicit the past 2 years. Not the accepted Doom, who’s presently reigning implicit the Marvel Universe yet again successful Marvel’s One World Under Doom crossover. Rather, the Doom of the caller Ultimate Universe. He represents a precise antithetic yet inactive utterly fascinating instrumentality connected this iconic Marvel character.

The Ultimate Universe’s Rebirth

To recognize wherefore this mentation of Doom is truthful compelling, you archetypal request to wrapper your caput astir the conception of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe imprint. The archetypal Ultimate line, which ran from 2000-2015, was dedicated to giving readers updated and streamlined versions of characters similar Spider-Man, the Avengers (rebranded arsenic The Ultimates), and the X-Men, each reimagined to suit the 21st Century and the property of the War connected Terror. It was large stuff… up until Marvel mislaid the crippled aft a fewer years.

The caller Ultimate line, which kicked disconnected successful 2023, is much purposeful and directed successful however it changes the accepted Marvel formula. This world, Earth-6160, was meant to beryllium a adjacent transcript of the regular Marvel Universe, Earth-616. But acknowledgment to the time-traveling machinations of The Maker (the twisted mentation of Reed Richards from the archetypal Ultimate Universe), Earth-6160 has gone severely astray. The Maker worked to systematically suppress the emergence of Earth’s superheroes. Most of those superhumans that bash beryllium service connected The Maker’s Council, a shadowy, autocratic cabal that secretly rules this dystopian world.

Art by Lee InHyuk. (Image Credit: Marvel)

Yet, determination is simply a absorption movement. Together, the Earth-6160 versions of Tony Stark and Reed Richards person been seeking retired those who were robbed of their accidental to beryllium heroes and giving them a 2nd chance. That’s the full premise down Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s chart-topping Ultimate Spider-Man, which features a married, older Peter Parker becoming Spidey for the archetypal time. It’s besides the thought fueling Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri’s The Ultimates, arsenic Tony and Reed pb a ragtag set of heroes to liberate the satellite portion the timepiece steadily counts down to The Maker’s return.

I’m of the sentiment that the Ultimate enactment is the champion happening Marvel is publishing astatine the infinitesimal (especially with the X-Men’s Krakoan epoch present over), and there’s a crushed wherefore The Ultimates was IGN’s champion comic publication of 2024. More than immoderate different publication astatine Marvel oregon DC, The Ultimates feels similar the comic for this unusual and frightening property successful which we find ourselves. It’s truthful refreshing to work a superhero comic wherever the heroes aren’t simply defending and upholding the presumption quo, but actively warring to teardrop it down and physique thing better.

Who Is Ultimate Doom?

If the caller Ultimate enactment represents the champion of Marvel’s existent comic publication crop, past Ultimate Doom is its top and astir compelling character. That’s because, successful this universe, Doom is Reed Richards. In the Ultimate Universe, 1 Reed is simply a terrible, seemingly unstoppable villain, portion different is its imaginable savior. What tin I say? He’s a malleable character, and not conscionable due to the fact that helium tin agelong and twist himself into literal knots.

Books similar Ultimate Invasion and The Ultimates person established a elaborate backstory for Ultimate Doom. When helium came to Earth-6160 and started gathering his concealed empire, The Maker made a peculiar task retired of tormenting his multiversal doppelganger. The Maker softly sabotaged Reed’s technological work, truthful that the cosmic mishap meant to springiness the Fantastic Four their powers alternatively killed Johnny and Susan Storm and caused Reed to beryllium thrown successful prison.

From there, The Maker spent years physically and psychologically torturing Reed. He didn’t halt until Reed yet accepted that helium is genuinely Doom - a achromatic spread of a quality being who sucks the beingness retired of everyone and everything helium loves. Even though Reed has since been liberated and joined the absorption against The Maker, helium inactive carries the profound scars from those years of torture. He inactive wears the visage of Doctor Doom, similar a modern-day Man successful the Iron Mask. But wherever Doctor Doom’s disguise projects powerfulness and regal authority, Ultimate Doom’s disguise represents thing but caged symptom and anguish.

Art by Phil Noto. (Image Credit: Marvel)

The question of wherefore The Maker devoted truthful overmuch effort to tearing down a mentation of himself is simply a fascinating one. His hatred of Earth-6160’s Reed is owed to some idiosyncratic and wholly applicable reasons.

A exile of the archetypal Ultimate Universe, this Reed erstwhile served connected his ain mentation of the Fantastic Four, earlier everything collapsed and helium mislaid his recovered family. This Reed has gone much than a small insane aft sealing himself distant for a 1000 years and becoming an immortal tyrant with an oversized brain. He intelligibly hates the antheral helium utilized to beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic helium secretly yearns for what was lost, truthful punishing Earth-6160’s Reed is simply a mode of exorcising his ain demons. It’s been a existent chaotic thrust for this quality implicit the past 15 years, and I’m inactive amazed astatine however The Maker (and chap Ultimate Universe exile Miles Morales) continues to thrive arsenic a quality agelong aft his beingness has been consigned to the dustbin of the comic publication industry.

There’s besides the information that, successful their past encounter, The Maker asked the Reed Richards of the main Marvel Universe a pointed question - “If you had the chance, would you erase maine from existence?”. That Reed admitted helium would. So The Maker knows with certainty that the top menace to his caller empire is Reed Richards. Only 1 Reed tin halt another. The solution? Destroy him utterly and completely, truthful that Reed’s unparalleled caput becomes impotent and worthless.

Ultimate Doom’s Battle with Depression

Did The Maker win successful his extremity of destroying Reed Richards? That question is astatine the bosom of what makes Ultimate Doom specified a compelling character. He’s a profoundly damaged individual. Who wouldn’t be, aft what he’s suffered? He’s a superb idiosyncratic who failed successful his life’s ambition yet inactive strives against overwhelming likelihood to physique a amended world. He’s an admirable feline successful a batch of ways.

Yet, there’s thing inherently sinister astir anyone who wears the disguise of Doctor Doom. Reed is nary exception. The Ultimates often leaves america to wonderment if The Maker has done excessively bully a occupation of stamping retired Reed’s heroic flame. He’s shown to clasp his chap heroes successful contempt for what helium sees arsenic half-measures. Given the opportunity, he’d usage clip question to rewrite and reshape the cloth of their beingness conscionable arsenic The Maker did earlier him. And helium can’t look to flight his obsession with correcting his botched work. Doom perpetually toils distant successful his lab, experimenting connected mice and trying to recreate the Fantastic Four.

Many of the characters successful The Ultimates are depicted arsenic being neurodivergent successful immoderate way. Tony/Iron Lad is autistic. Giant-Man is wracked by anxiousness and a full messiness of phobias. And Ultimate Doom suffers from a slump truthful debilitating it makes each time a struggle. Doom vocalizes this successful the genuinely unthinkable The Ultimates #4, an contented that explores 4 parallel threads of clip simultaneously. Here, Doom refers to his slump arsenic his “Negative Zone,” a clever rotation connected the deadly magnitude from the halfway Marvel Universe.

Art by Phil Noto. (Image Credit: Marvel)

“I… endure from periods of… utmost despair,” Doom tells Tony. “During these periods it is arsenic if I am… oppositely charged. Lost successful an all-consuming beingness wherever thing is possible. I telephone it my ‘negative zone’.”

This, much than immoderate different country successful The Ultimates, serves to humanize Ultimate Doom and marque him much relatable than the larger-than-life Doctor Doom of Earth-616 could ever be. How galore among america tin recognize the plight of situational slump and the thought of being crushed down by the satellite and the endless deluge of atrocious news? Who doesn’t person days wherever they consciousness trapped successful their ain idiosyncratic Negative Zone? I tin surely relate.

All of this helps to mold this mentation of Reed Richards into the astir analyzable and layered quality successful the caller Ultimate Universe. He’s a antheral erstwhile destined for greatness who had that beingness stolen away. He’s idiosyncratic who fights an uphill conflict each time simply to get retired of furniture and support moving forward. He bravely resists, yet it remains to beryllium seen however overmuch of his battered psyche he’s consenting to sacrifice successful the process. He’s an antithetic and precise damaged leader successful a beingness that has acold excessively fewer heroes. And he’s the azygous biggest crushed wherefore anyone adjacent remotely funny successful superhero comics should beryllium pursuing Marvel’s Ultimate Universe line.