Doctor Doom

Like many of Marvel's Silver Age characters, Doom was conceived by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. With the Fantastic Four title performing well, Lee and Kirby were trying to dream up a "soul-stirring…super sensational new villain" for the series.[10] Looking for a name, Lee latched onto "Doctor Doom" as "eloquent in its simplicity — magnificent in its implied menace."[10]

Due to the rush to publish, the character was not given a full origin story[10] until Fantastic Four Annual #2, two years after his debut.[11]

In a 1987 interview, Kirby commented on Doctor Doom's design. "Dr. Doom was the classic conception of Death, of approaching Death. I saw Dr. Doom as The Man in the Iron Mask, who symbolized approaching Death. It was the reason for the armor and the hood. Death is connected with armor and inhuman-like steel. Death is something without mercy and human flesh contains that element of mercy. Therefore I had to erase it, and I did it with a mask."[12]

Kirby further described Doom as being "paranoid", wrecked by his twisted face and wanting the whole world to be like him.[13] Kirby went on to say that "Doom is an evil person, but he's not always been evil. He was [respected]…but through a flaw in his own character, he was a perfectionist."[14] At one point in the 1970s, Kirby drew his interpretation of what Doom would look like under the mask, giving Doom only "a tiny scar on his cheek".[15] Due to this slight imperfection, Doom hides his face not from the world, but from himself.[15] To Kirby, this is the motivation for Doom's vengeance against the world; because others are superior due to this slight scar, Doom wants to elevate himself above them.[14] Stan Lee's writing typically showed Doom's arrogance as his constant downfall, and how his pride leads to Von Doom's disfigurement at the hands of his own machine, and to the failures of many of his schemes.[16]

While the Fantastic Four had fought various villains such as the Mole Man, Skrulls, the Miracle Man, and Namor the Sub-Mariner, Doom managed to overshadow them all and became the Fantastic Four's archnemesis.[17] During the 1970s, Doom branched out to more Marvel titles such as Astonishing Tales,[18] The Incredible Hulk,[19] and Super-Villain Team-Up (1975). Beginning with issue #42, he also had appearances in Marvel Team-Up (February 1976). Doom's origin was also a feature in Astonishing Tales when his ties to the villain Mephisto were revealed.[20]

In the book Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre, Peter Coogan writes that Doom's original appearance was representative of a change in the portrayal of "mad scientists" to full-fledged villains, often with upgraded powers.[21] These supervillains are genre-crossing villains who exist in adventures "in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended"; characters such as Professor Moriarty, Count Dracula, Auric Goldfinger, Hannibal Lecter, Joker, Lex Luthor, and Darth Vader, also fit this description.[21] Sanderson also found traces of William Shakespeare's characters Richard III and Iago in Doom; all of them "are descended from the 'vice' figure of medieval drama", who address the audience in monologs detailing their thoughts and ambitions.[22]

In 1976, Marvel and DC Comics collaborated on Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, and seeking to replicate that success the two companies again teamed the characters in Superman and Spider-Man in 1981. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter co-wrote the story with Marv Wolfman, and recalled choosing Victor Von Doom based on his iconic status: "I figured I needed the heaviest-duty bad guy we had to offer — Doctor Doom. Their greatest hero against our greatest villain."[23]

In 1981 John Byrne began his six-year run writing and illustrating Fantastic Four, sparking a "second golden age" for the title[24] but also attempting to "turn the clock back [...] get back and see fresh what it was that made the book great at its inception."[25] Doctor Doom made his first appearance under Byrne's tenure with issue #236.[26] Whereas Kirby had intimated that Doom's disfigurement was more a figment of Victor's vain personality, Byrne decided that Doom's face was truly ravaged: only Doom's own robot slaves are allowed to see the monarch without his helmet.[27] Byrne emphasized other aspects of Doom's personality; despite his ruthless nature, Victor von Doom is a man of honor.[28][29] Returning to Latveria after being temporarily deposed, Doctor Doom abandons a scheme to wrest mystical secrets from Doctor Strange in order to oversee his land's reconstruction.[27] Despite a tempestuous temper, Doom occasionally shows warmth and empathy to others; he tries to free his mother from Mephisto and treats Kristoff Vernard like his own son.[27] Byrne gave further detail regarding Doom's scarring: Byrne introduced the idea that the accident at Empire State University only left Victor with a small scar that was exaggerated into a more disfiguring accident by Doom's own arrogance—by donning his newly forged face mask before it had fully cooled, he caused massive irreparable damage.[30]

After Byrne's departure Doom continued to be a major villain in Fantastic Four, and as the 1980s continued Doom appeared in other comics such as Punisher, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Excalibur. Under Fantastic Four writer Steven Englehart, Doom became exiled from Latveria by his heir Kristoff, who was brainwashed into thinking he was Victor von Doom. Doom would spend most of his time in exile planning his return, but Englehart left the title before he could resolve the storyline. This storyline ultimately ended with the controversial Fantastic Four #350, where writer Walt Simonson had the Victor Von Doom who had been seen in the book during the Englehart run being revealed to be a robotic imposter and the real von Doom, in a newly redesigned armor, returning to claim his country from his usurper. According to Simonson's retcon, the last appearance of the real Victor von Doom was in the "Battle of the Baxter Building" story arc, but Simonson's interpretation of the character was unaware of certain major changes at the time to the Fantastic Four. Later writers ignored Simonson's choices, retconning these story elements as an attempt by Doom to blame his own past failures on unruly robots.[31]

Writer Mark Waid sought to redefine Doctor Doom in the 2003 "Unthinkable" storyline ((vol. 3) #66-70 and #500), by having him forsake technology and invest entirely in mysticism. The story took its title from the "unthinkable" act Doom had to perform to acquire this new magical might from a trio of demons: killing his first love, Valeria. With Valeria's flesh turned into new mystic leather armor, the story follows Doom as he imprisons Franklin Richards in Hell, captures Valeria's namesake, and succeeds in de-powering and imprisoning the Fantastic Four. He subsequently attempts to prove his superiority to Reed Richards by giving him the chance to find his way out of a prison that could only be escaped through magic, in the belief that Richards would fail to do so. With the aid of Doctor Strange, however, Richards learns to utilize magic on a basic level by accepting that he could not understand it and escapes. Richards proceeds to trick Doom into rejecting the demons, resulting in them dragging Doom to Hell. Doom remained trapped there until the events of the 2004 "Ragnarok" storyline in the pages of Thor, which resulted in Thor's hammer Mjolnir falling through dimensions and giving Doom a way out of Hell.

In 2005 and 2006, Doom was featured in his own limited series entitled Books of Doom, a retelling of the origin story by Ed Brubaker.[32] In an interview, Brubaker said the series was a way to elaborate on the earlier portions of Doom's life which had not been seen often in the comics. The series also set out to determine if Doctor Doom's path from troubled child to dictator was fated or if Doom's own faults led to his corruption — in essence, a nature versus nurture question; whether Doom could ever become a hero.[33] Brubaker's version of Doom was heavily influenced by the original Lee/Kirby version; responding to a question if he would ever show Doom's face, Brubaker stated "[F]ollowing Kirby's example, I think it's better not to show it."[32]

The Mighty Avengers invaded Latveria, von Doom's nation, due to his involvement in creating a chemical bomb that would infect people with the symbiote (though it was recently revealed that this attack was actually set up by Kristoff Vernard to put Doom out of the picture prior to Kristoff's future attempt at a coup).[34] Due to Ultron's interference, the bomb was dropped on Manhattan, but the Mighty Avengers are able to stop the effects on the people. The Mighty Avengers proceed to invade Latveria. During the invasion, the Sentry, Iron Man, and Von Doom are sent to the past, thanks to the Latverian ruler's time platform. Eventually, the trio breaks into the Baxter Building and make use of a confiscated time machine to return to the present era, the Sentry taking advantage of the fact he will soon be forgotten by the world to easily defeat the Thing. Doctor Doom transports himself to Morgana's castle to summon up a magical army and captures the Avengers, but they free themselves and he is arrested for terrorist crimes against humanity after a brief struggle that culminated with the Sentry tearing off Doctor Doom's mask.

During Dark Reign when Norman Osborn is in charge, Doom is released and sent back to Latveria. However, Morgana le Fay engages him in a magical battle, which he is losing until the Dark Avengers rescue him. He then magically rebuilds his kingdom.[35]

The character is also featured in the Siege storyline, where he initially approves of Osborn's attack on Asgard before withdrawing from the arrangement.[36] He also appears in the five issue miniseries Doomwar written by Jonathan Maberry.[37] Doomwar sees the culmination of Doom's alliance with the isolationist group known as the Desturi, to take control of Wakanda. He attacked and wounded T'Challa, the current Black Panther, maiming him enough to prevent him from holding the mantle again. Doctor Doom's main objective was to secure Wakanda's store of vibranium, which he could mystically enhance to make himself unstoppable. However, this plan was thwarted when T'Challa triggered a device that destroyed Wakanda's entire vibranium stockpile, choosing to believe that his people could survive without the element.

In the Mark Millar penned Fantastic Four 566–569, Doom received a significant power upgrade. He was thrown back in time (perhaps about 50 million years) by the Marquis of Death. Doom then fought through time and space to get back to the present to seek revenge on the Marquis of Death. Doom stated, as he killed the Marquis, he had rebuilt every molecule of his being and increased his power all to destroy the Marquis. In later issues, this seems to have been ignored, however, with writers treating Doctor Doom the way they have always before in terms of power, the arc later retroactively being said to have been a dream had by Valeria von Doom. Doom later joins the supervillain group known as the Intelligencia, but is betrayed when they captured him to complete their plan.[38] With the help of Bruce Banner, he escapes and returns to Latveria. He appears to have been damaged by this experience.

At the start of the story arc Fantastic Four: Three, Doom feels that he needs to be "reborn" and makes plans to abdicate his throne and give it to Kristoff when Valeria teleports to his room unexpectedly asking for his assistance. Valeria quickly notices that Doom has suffered brain damage and makes a deal with him to restore his mental capacities if he helps Reed and the Fantastic Four. Doom agrees to her proposition.[39] Later, a humble Doom appears among those in attendance at Johnny Storm's funeral.[40]

Due to the agreement, Doom is recommended by Nathaniel and Valeria Von Doom to be a member of the Future Foundation.[41] Objecting, Thing attacks Doom out of anger, but the fight is stopped by Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who welcomes Doom to their group.[42] Leading to the Secret Wars, Doom usurps the power of the Beyonders with the aid of Doctor Strange and the Molecule Man,[43] collecting what he can of the destroyed multiverse and forming a new Battleworld consisting of different alternate realities. He also assumes the role of God and claims complete dominion of this new world and its inhabitants, controlling them into thinking he was always the almighty force of creation; following Reed's apparent demise, he takes Sue as his wife, and Franklin, and Valeria as his children. He convinces Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm to be the sun and the Shield wall respectively in Battleworld. However, Richards and a ragtag collection of heroes and villains that survived the destruction of all universes are able to challenge him and, with the help of Molecule Man, are able to take his power and restore the multiverse, something Doom had thought to be impossible. Opting to heal rather than harm, Reed finally uses the Beyonder's power to heal Doom's face, and to purify his soul.[44]

Doom returns to Latveria where he saves Tony Stark / Iron Man by incapacitating a group of Latverian rebels with a sonic attack, and vows that he is a new man.[45] He reveals to Tony that he has relinquished his dictatorship over Latveria to give the land back to its people. As a sign of trust, he entrusts Tony with one of the Wands of Watoomb to help him defeat Madame Masque. When more rebels arrive, Doom teleports Stark to the Bronx Zoo.[46] The two later travel to Chicago in order to confront Madam Masque.[47] Discovering Madame Masque to be possessed, Doom has Tony trap her in his Iron Man armor and exorcises the demon from her. Doom disappears before the unconscious Tony regains consciousness.[48] Doom appears once again and interrupts Tony's breakfast date with Amara, continuously trying to prove to Tony that he has changed and is trying to correct the mistakes he has made, explaining that he has arrived to check up on Tony and see if he is suffering from any side-effects from being in the presence of an exorcism. Tony still refuses to trust him after what he has done and Doom leaves once again.[49] Following Stark's comatose state at the hands of Captain Marvel, Doom takes up the mantle of Iron Man, coming into conflict with Mephisto disguised as the Maker, the evil Ultimate Universe version of Reed Richards,[50] joining the Avengers,[5] and later conceiving a child with Dr. Amara Perera.[51]

When Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm set out to find their teammates after it is revealed that prolonged separation is weakening the FF's powers, Doom follows them as they begin to travel through parallel universes, offering his help to an alternate Reed Richards in devising a plan to stop this world's Doctor Doom (who has transferred himself into the body of Galactus and consumed every other world in existence save for Earth).

In an attempt to save her series and possibly join the Avengers, Gwenpool (unaware that Doom has "reformed") attempted to attack him using an AI Doombot who goes by the name Vincent Doonan to lead her to him. Seeing this coming Doom easily captured her, though not until after she angered him by saying he looked like "War Machine in a hoodie". He then told Vincent, who resented him though still saw Doom as his father, that he was proud of him. Gwen escaped, not surprising Doom because according to him "They always escape". Unwilling to risk what she sees as possibly her last chance to save herself because Doom has obviously only temporarily reformed, she attacks him anyway and releases an earlier version of Doom who has no problem fighting her and even seeing how she steps out of reality. It soon becomes obvious that Gwen is not established enough to kill Doom and new Doom steps in to defeat his doppelganger and save her. They talk and she accepts that she made a mistake and hopes he's right that people can be reformed. Later she gets Doom, Vincent, Dr. Strange, and Terrible Eye (Her friend Sarah) to help her sidekick Cecil regain human form.

Doctor Doom has recently been featured in his first solo series, in which Doom is framed for blowing up a space station on the Moon, its instability he had warned the international community about previously. He is also shown to be tethered to Kang the Conqueror, the time traveler appearing at random moments in front of him throughout the series due to a theorized quantum entanglement between the two supervillains.[52]

On many occasions, Doom's only real weakness has been his arrogance. Layla Miller once reflected that Doom is incapable of accepting that he himself might be the reason for his failures. This is most keenly reflected in Doom's continued refusal to accept responsibility for the accident that fully scarred his face, instead preferring to blame Reed Richards for sabotaging his experiment. While his high opinion of himself is generally accurate, he is unable to accept when others may have a better understanding of a situation than he does, with the occasional exception of hearing the recommendations of heroes such as Mister Fantastic or the Thing when it is to his advantage. Even when teaming up with others against a greater threat, Doom will often try to subvert the alliance for personal gain; for instance, while allied with Adam Warlock and other heroes against the Titan Thanos, he attempted to steal Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet before its owner had been defeated, potentially disrupting Warlock's own plan to defeat Thanos.

Von Doom adheres to a strict code of honor at all times. However, Von Doom will keep his exact word, which may or may not be beneficial to the person to whom he has given his promise. For example, Doom may swear that he will not harm an individual, but that only means he will not personally harm that person; it does not mean he will prevent others from harming that person.

Doom's honor code led him to save Captain America from drowning because Captain America had earlier saved his life, and on another occasion he thanked Spider-Man for saving him from terrorists attacking him in an airport by allowing him to leave alive despite Spider-Man subsequently insulting him. His code of honor also means that he will not attack a respected opponent who is weakened or at a severe disadvantage, as he regards any victory resulting from such circumstances as hollow and meaningless. He has even on several occasions battled opponents who were intent on killing the Fantastic Four, for no other reason than the fact that he does not want the ultimate defeat of the Fantastic Four to come from anyone's hands but his own.

Victor Von Doom has been shown to be devoted to the welfare and well-being of his subjects. Once, he even went so far as to let his soul lay bare and be judged by the Panther God of Wakanda, who determined that he genuinely wished for a utopian future where humanity thrived, albeit one where he was in power.[119] Doom is beloved by his people of Latveria, which assumedly confirms his ego.

UGO Networks asserted, "There are villains, and then there is Doctor Doom. In the world of Marvel comics, few images are more iconic than the leader of Latveria's iron mask and emerald cowl. He's got the armor, the army of Doombots and the grandiose manner befitting the arch-nemesis of everybody from the Avengers to the Fantastic Four."[120] George Marston of Newsarama called Doctor Doom one of the "best Marvel supervillains," writing, "Though his profile has waned somewhat in recent years thanks to a turn as a reluctant hero, the fan-favorite Dr. Doom has returned to villainy in the recent Fantastic Four relaunch, resuming his rightful place in the hierarchy of Marvel's villainous pyramid. Doom is the smartest man in the Marvel Universe - yes, even smarter than his hated enemy Reed Richards - but like all great villains, his hubris blinds him to his own potential. Not content with mastering only science, Doom is also one of the most powerful magic users in the Marvel Universe and was once considered a rival to Dr. Strange for the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Despite never having received a proper film adaptation in three movie appearances and two separate franchises, Dr. Doom remains a presence in the cultural zeitgeist, his very name synonymous with villainy even to those who don't read comic books."[121] David Harth of CBR.com described Doctor Doom as one of the "coolest Avengers villains," saying, "Doctor Doom has charisma in spades. While his hatred for Reed Richards and The Fantastic Four will always be paramount, that hasn't stopped him from battling the Avengers quite often over the years. Everything about Doctor Doom is cool. He has great armor, amazing power, and the most distinct way of speaking in the Marvel Universe. Doom casts a wide shadow everywhere he goes. On top of all of that, he has an amazing backstory – one which shows he's more than just a stereotypical villain. There's depth to Doom, something far beyond the surface impressions, which is what makes him such a cool villain."[122]

• In 2006, Wizard Magazine ranked Doctor Doom 4th in their "100 Greatest Villains Ever" list.[123]
• In 2008, CBR.com ranked Doctor Doom 4th in their "Top 50 Marvel Characters" list.[124]
• In 2014, IGN ranked Doctor Doom 3rd in their "Top 100 Comic Book Villains" list.[125]
• In 2018, ComicBook.com included Doctor Doom in their "7 Great Villains for Black Panther 2" list.[126]
• In 2019, IGN ranked Doctor Doom 1st in their "Top 25 Marvel Villains" list.[127]
• In 2022, Newsarama ranked Doctor Doom 2nd in their "Best Marvel supervillains" list.[121]
• In 2022, Screen Rant included Doctor Doom in their "MCU: 10 Most Desired Fan Favorite Debuts Expected In The Multiverse Saga" list,[128] in their "15 Most Powerful Black Panther Villains" list,[129] and in their "10 Best Black Panther Comics Characters Not In The MCU" list.[130]
• In 2022, CBR.com ranked Doctor Doom 1st in their "10 Coolest Avengers Villains" list,[122] 3rd in their "13 Most Important Marvel Villains" list,[131] and 5th in their "10 Most Iconic Black Panther Villains" list.[132]

• Rapper Daniel Dumile based his personas MF DOOM and Viktor Vaughn, on Doctor Doom and Victor Von Doom respectively. In his 2004 album Mm..Food, several songs contain samples of Doctor Doom's lines in the 1981 Spider-Man animated series.[133][134]
• A ride called Doctor Doom's Fearfall is located at Islands of Adventure in the Universal Orlando Resort.[135]

In Neil Gaiman's alternative-universe tale, Marvel 1602, Dr. Doom is "Count Otto von Doom", also known as "Otto the Handsome". A mastermind genius of physics and even genetics, Von Doom keeps the Four of the Fantastick imprisoned in his castle, continually tapping Richard Reed for knowledge. The Four eventually escape during an attack on Doom's castle by the other heroes of the time, which also leads to the scarring of his face.[136]

Otto von Doom returns in 1602: The Fantastick Four, in which he plans to visit a city beyond the edge of the world, believing they have knowledge that could restore his face. He kidnaps William Shakespeare to record these events.[137]

Doom (Victor Von Doom) is a Marvel Comics anti-hero featured in the Marvel 2099 comic book Doom 2099. The character is based on Doctor Doom, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The comic was written by John Francis Moore for its first two years and by Warren Ellis for its third.

In the Age of Apocalypse, Victor von Doom is an agent of the Human High Council and the Head of Security. His facial scar is the result of a mutant uprising in Latveria. Like his 616 counterpart, Von Doom remains a ruthless and ambitious man, though he does not express his counterpart's goal to rule the world.[138]

In the Amalgam Comics universe, Dr. Doom was a Cadmus scientist with Reed Richards and sabotaged their space project out of jealousy. He also experimented on himself using a gene sample of DC's Doomsday, transforming him into Doctor Doomsday.[139]

Doctor Doom made an appearance in Marvel UK's Combat Colin strip. A superheroes convention is attacked by the robotic Steamroller Man. After Combat Colin and his sidekick Semi-Automatic Steve defeats the robot, its controller is revealed to be Doctor Doom, who explains that after years of being defeated by American superheroes he thought (wrongly) he could stand a chance against some incompetent Brits. The final panel shows Doom back in his lair, surrounded by newspaper cuttings detailing his past defeats and wondering how he would do in a fight with Thomas the Tank Engine.[140]

A Doctor Doom from an alternate reality has gone by the name of Doom Supreme and is the master of the darkest arts. He used to love a woman named Valeria so much that when she died, he removed the flesh from her bones and forged it with an armor through the power of sacrifice which he also did the same thing when he tortured anyone who defied him when he became his world's Sorcerer Supreme. To power his armor, Doom Supreme went after some alternate versions of himself and sacrificed them while intimidating others like a giant Doctor Doom to swear their allegiance to him. He has described himself as "the Doom who breaks other Dooms".[141]

Doom Supreme later witnessed the fight between the Prehistoric Avengers and a younger Thanos. After watching that battle, Doom Supreme is approached by Mephisto who advised him to put together a variation of the Masters of Evil from the evilest villains throughout the Multiverse and to conquer it while saving Earth-616 for last. Doom Supreme was able to do that by gathering Black Skull, Dark Phoenix and her Berserkers, Ghost Goblin, Kid Thanos, and King Killmonger. They attacked the Prehistoric Avengers of different Earths, slew them, and took over their worlds. Though they violated the order to save Earth-616 for last and arrived there where Doom Supreme slew Orb, broke the Watcher's eye in his possession, and sent some of his Multiversal Masters of Evil to fight the different members of the Avengers.[142] Doom Supreme and Kid Thanos attacked Avengers Mountain where they fought Black Panther, Namor, and Valkyrie before Avengers Mountain exploded.[143] After a talk with Mephisto's dog form and Iron Inquisitor, Doom Supreme puts the unburned fragment of the Watcher's eye into his own eye and leaves with Kid Thanos so that the Multiversal Masters of Evil can get back to work.[144]

After reminiscing about his past and the conquest of Earth-91, Doom Supreme notes that the Multiversal Masters of Evil are "so very small". It is also shown that he had talked about it to a variation of Doctor Doom that is a Man-Thing called Doom-Thing. When Doom-Thing threatens him, Doom Supreme stated that he saved him from being slaughtered by the Multiversal Masters of Evil. Doom Supreme brings in some alternate versions of Doctor Doom as Doom Thing breaks free and immolates some of them where they are not Doombots as he suspected. Doom-Thing is nailed back to the cross as Doom Supreme explains that he collects alternate versions of Doctor Doom. After that story is done, Doom-Thing begs for Doom Supreme to not make him look anymore. Doom-Thing then swears his allegiance to Doom Supreme as Doom-Thing is instructed to remove this tongue and clean up the mess he made. It is then shown that Doom Supreme's lair is on a Doctor Doom version of Ego the Living Planet called Doom the Living Planet.[141]

When it comes to the Multiversal Masters of Evil conquering another Earth before they can revisit Earth-616, they are attacked by Ghost Rider. After Ghost Rider subdues Black Skull, King Killmonger, and Ghost Goblin, Doom Supreme fights Ghost Rider and starts to overpower him. Ant-Man of Earth-818 and the Deathlok that Ghost Rider has been traveling with arrive where the former shrinks Doom Supreme. When Dark Phoenix attacks, Deathlok buys Ant-Man of Earth-818 time to get Ghost Rider away. While stating that the Multiversal Masters of Evil must regroup and he must get back to his normal size, Doom Supreme that that he knows where they are going and that they will visit that location to do one more slaughter. Doom Supreme vows that "No Avenger gets out alive".[145]

Doom Supreme arrives on Earth-616 after Agamotto had broken up the fight between the Avengers and the Prehistoric Avengers. He proceeded to remove Agamotto's eyes and then kills the Prehistoric Star Brand as the rest of the Multiversal Masters of Evil arrive.[146] After the Prehistoric Ghost Rider subdued Hound, Odin fights Doom Supreme as Valkyrie frees Odin from one of Doom Supreme's spells. After being told by Dark Phoenix that the fight is taking too long, Doom Supreme casts a spell to wipe out the ancestral ape-men.[147]

When most of the Multiversal Masters of Evil are either dead or defeated, Dark Phoenix (revealed to be an alternate version of Mystique) goes to confront Doom Supreme and attacks him for letting their teammates fall in battle only to find that it's just a hologram. Doom Supreme is shown to be on Doom the Living Planet with the variants loyal to him.[148] After the surviving members of the Council of Red retreat when most of their numbers were decimated by the Multiversal Avengers, Old Man Phoenix, and the granddaughters of King Thor, Doom Supreme arrived at the God Quarry with Doom the Living Planet and the Doctor Doom variants loyal to him. Doom Supreme instructs the Doctor Doom variants to keep the Multiversal Avengers at bay while he claims the rights to all existence. Old Man Phoenix and Star Panther go on the attack. Doom Supreme puts up a forcefield around him so that he can chant a spell. As the Multiversal Avengers fight the Doctor Doom variants, Avenger Prime shows up as he is revealed to be a variation of Loki.[149]

As the Multiversal Avengers continue their fight against the Doctor Doom variants, Doom Supreme is locked in combat with Old Man Phoenix and Echo while Star Panther flies through Doom the Living Planet. When Doom Supreme starts to turn the air in Agamotto to acid, he is confronted by Avenger Prime as Namor helps fight Doom Supreme. After Star Panther badly wounds Doom the Living Planet, Old Man Phoenix and Echo use their Phoenix abilities to make Doom the Living Planet bleed molten blood with some of them hitting the Doctor Doom variants. One fallen Steve Rogers gives up his Mjolnir enabling another Steve Rogers to wield it against some of the Doctor Doom variants.[150] Doom Supreme fights Avenger Prime until the news of a Celestial-size Mephisto attacking causes Avenger Prime to break off his fight with him as Doom Supreme claims that he can hear their dying screams. When Ka-Zar shows up with an alternate version of Galactus from the alternate reality that Iron Inquisitor sent him to, Ka-Zar directs Galactus to the remains of Doom the Living Planet while Gorilla-Man and Ursa Major arrive in the Progenitor that is now modified with Deathlok technology as they decimate the Doctor Doom variants as everyone makes the final push against Mephisto and Doom Supreme.[151] Avenger Prime uses a spell to wrap Doom Supreme in some chains. As Doom Supreme states that the God Quarry is crumbling, he is attacked by Dark Phoenix accusing him of abandoning her as he claims that he awaited her arrival. As Dark Phoenix calls him a liar and should rest her searing lips on his tongue, Doom Supreme removes his mask and kisses her while daring her to try.[152] As some of the Doctor Doom variants are hit by the ancient Multiverse energies, Doom Supreme chastises Mephisto over his plans and turns against him. As Doom Supreme gains a sample of it, he finds it growing enough to turn him to stone as Ant-Man shrinks him. The Multiversal Avengers continue their fight with the remaining Doctor Doom variants as Ghost Rider reassembles Doom the Living Planet into a Planet of Vengeance combined with the Mjolnir variants to clog the breach. With the breach sealed on the other side by Ghost Rider's sacrifice, the remaining Doctor Doom variants are apprehended.[153]

In this reality, visited by Ben Grimm while attempting to recover the coordinates of the Ultimate Nullifer, divided between the subconscious minds of four alternative Johnny Storms, Doom was the leader of the 'Challengers of Doom' consisting of himself, Reed Richard, Sue Storm, and the Hulk-, with Latveria having been destroyed in an unspecified past disaster and Doom relocating to New York to become a hero.[154] When Galactus came to Earth and landed in Russia, Doom dismissed it as a hoax, prompting Grimm to note that this Doom was more arrogant than the version he knew as the Doom of Earth-616 was at least willing to listen to even his enemies if the situation was serious enough rather than dismiss their views as automatically irrelevant.[155]

Unlike most Dooms this version is portrayed as an old, senile man with delusions of retaining his old authority and physique- seen by Layla Miller as a natural 'evolution' of Doom's inability to accept that he might be the reason for his failures-, although with periods of lucidity in which, while physically decrepit, he is still as smart and devious (and in turn, dangerous) as ever. Currently he's been taken in by Layla Miller and Madrox who hope that he can aid them in traveling back to their present.[156] After finding and reactivating a time machine provided by the future X-Men, Doom, while in another lucid moment, betrays them, ordering the time traveling "Cortex" to use his abilities to "Destroy all the mutants".[157] Doom also is able to take control of the heavily cyberized Cyclops though his cybernetic implants, forcing Cyclops' daughter Ruby to take him down. After this battle, Doom vanishes.[158]

In the alternate 31st century of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, designated as Earth-691, Doom is revealed to have somehow managed to place his brain inside the adamantium skeleton of Wolverine at some unknown point in the past, hiding this fact with a perfect replica of his original armor, cloak, hood, and simulated flesh intended to give the appearance that he has managed to prolong his life to unnatural lengths. He eventually comes face to face with Rancor, a descendant of Wolverine, and offers to become her ally, though he secretly intended to use her as a pawn for his own gain, while she intends to slay him on her quest to determine what happened to Wolverine. During their battle, Doom reveals himself to be in control of Wolverine's skeleton, heavily modified with cybernetics and missing half of one of the claws, which had eventually come into the possession of Rancor. Rancor manages to strike at one of Doom's robotic eyes, forcing him to retreat. Doom is not seen again in this reality.

In the dystopian future of Earth-X, Doctor Doom has killed the Invisible Woman and Human Torch, but died in the process. Reed Richards took his place as ruler of Latveria and also wears his armor.

During the "Secret Wars" storyline, Doctor Doom stole the power of the Beyonders and became known as "God Emperor Doom".

In the 2021 "Heroes Reborn" reality, a variation of Doctor Doom appears as a member of the Masters of Doom and can turn into Doctor Juggernaut using the Gem of Cyttorak. After escaping from the Negative Zone, Doctor Juggernaut attacked the front lawn of the White House and fought Hyperion.[159]

In the House of M continuity, Doom is still the ruler of Latveria, his mother is still alive, he is married to Valeria, and he has adopted Kristoff. Reed Richards's test flight still encounters cosmic radiation, but rather than empowering Reed, Sue and John Jameson, who went up instead of Johnny Storm, the three of them are killed by the cosmic radiation. Ben Grimm survives, but his intelligence is reduced. This inspires Doom to create the Fearsome Four, consisting of himself, the It(Grimm), the Invincible Woman (Valeria), and the Inhuman Torch (Kristoff). Due to Doom's arrogance and his brutality towards Grimm, the It betrays the team; Valeria and Kristoff are killed, his mother is kidnapped, and Doom is left broken, but preparing his revenge. He genetically mutates himself to study and advance technologies and mysticism to better himself to be perfect, and transforms his skin into liquid metal and can form weapons from his hands.[160]

In an alternative future set in 2093, where a reborn King Arthur rules a renewed Camelot aided by Merlin, Doom and Iron Man are drawn to the future to oppose a plan to destroy most of Earth's population. While Iron Man confronts his descendant- wielding Excalibur in order to even the odds against his foe's upgraded armor- Doom meets his future double, who relies on technology to extend his lifespan and has allied with the future Iron Man in order to use his mobility to complete his plan. Doom rejects his future self by pointing out that he would never do such a thing, for even if he seeks power, he always watches the cost of it, and knows that nothing he seeks could be worth such an affront to his dignity. He then kills the older Doom who remarks that he had done so himself a century before, hinting that the alternate 2093 timeline may be a form of stable time loop, in which the alternate Doom of 2093 will always be killed by his younger self.[161]

In Marvel Mangaverse, Doom makes T'Channa, T'Challa's sister, his disciple, she banishes him to another dimension and assumes the identity of Doctor Doom.[162]

When the Thing and the Human Torch search the multiverse for the missing Richards' family, their first new universe visited is a world where the Thing died in the Fantastic Four's first battle with Galactus. This universe's Doctor Doom saved Earth by transferring his mind into Galactus, with the result that Earth has been spared but Doom's hunger for power has led him to devour every other planet in the universe. With the help of alternate counterparts of Reed Richards and Emma Frost from an undesignated universe, they are able to defeat him by transferring his mind into Emma Frost's body, while she becomes the Life Bringer.[163]

Set weeks after a highly infectious pathogen has turned the majority of the Earth's population into homicidal cannibals, Dr. Doom arrives during the Avengers last stand against the growing number of infected and assists in repelling the attackers. Knowing of the Pathogen's unpredictable nature of transforming anyone who is infected at any point in time, Doom offers the heroes a solution to prevent anyone else from succumbing to the pathogen in the form of Doom Stones that he claims stalls the pathogen from transforming anyone who potentially carries it. However, Doom refuses to give them the Doom Stones unless they swear absolute loyalty to him.

Desperate and out of options, the majority of the Avengers accepts Dooms terms except Thor who instead returns to Asgard. While they accept Doom's stones, the Avenger's distrust of Doom lead them to meet secretly to investigate the nature of the Doom Stones. Hawkeye eventually discovers that Doom himself is actually infected after witnessing him about to eat Mystique's corpse and discovers that the Doom Stone's do not stop the infection but instead gives the Cannibal's full cognitive function instead of devolving them into savages as well as speeding up the transformation process of anyone infected.

Hawkeye's discovery leads Doom to active the later function of the Doom Stones and turns most of the surviving heroes left in New York into Cannibals leaving only Hawkeye, the Punisher, and Black Widow as the only uninfected heroes left in the city. Despite his victory against the Avengers, Doom is later killed in retribution by Hawkeye with an arrow tipped with one of Wolverines severed adamantium claws.

In more of an anti-hero role, the Earth-2149 version of Doom is still ruler of Latveria. Doom has fortified his castle to defend against the infected superheroes and refuses help from Nick Fury, and takes in refugees for the purpose of repopulating the planet once the situation is resolved. To the disgust of his allies, it is revealed Doom has only chosen the hardiest breeding stock of the Latverian survivors; there are no elderly people or children.[164] He creates a makeshift portal that will allow escape into other dimensions, should the zombie plague doom the planet. Doom is forced to vaporize the mutant Dazzler and the zombified Enchantress after the latter infects the former, but is then attacked by the zombified Marvel superheroes and infected by Reed Richards, who had infected himself and his teammates on purpose.[165]

Shortly before he turns, a "dying" Doom heroically uses his portal to allow the refugees escape to another reality. Despite his defenses, the zombies breaks through once more. With only himself and Ash Williams remaining, he reveals he has been infected by the virus, and cannot go through the portal himself. Though tempted to eat Ash, he resists, as he considers Ash to have allowed him revenge against Reed Richards, allowing the man to escape, even giving him the ability to choose one of many realities. As Ash escapes through it, Doom ultimately destroys the device, trapping himself with the zombies. Having witnessed Doom saving the refugees by using his portal for their escape, the zombified Thing suddenly attacked Doom.[165] He is later seen in New York, as a zombie who attempts to devour Galactus before engaging in battle with the zombified superheroes who succeeded in absorbing Galactus' cosmic powers before him, presumably being killed by them off-screen.[166]

In the Fantastic Five series set in the MC2, Doom is revealed to be held captive by the Sub-Mariner for ten years, after the destruction of Atlantis. Doom manages to escape, and uses the same device he once employed to imbue Terrax with the Power Cosmic on his Doombots- unable to use it on himself as his human body would be destroyed from the strain-, and attempts to take over the world. Taking advantage of Doom's desire to prove himself superior, Reed Richards challenges Doom to a psychic duel, using a device that will send the loser's mind to the Crossroads of Infinity. The two are so evenly matched that both are sent to the Crossroads - although Namor notes that it is possible that Reed sacrificed himself to try to save Doom - leaving their bodies as empty shells, although Reed's teammates note that there is always a possibility that the two shall return so long as their bodies remain alive.

Doctor Doom makes shortly cameos in Mini-Marvels. In the "Classic Mini Marvels" section, there's a short story about him in which he tries to read Marvel's comics. He can be seen in "Civil Guards" as one of the doctors that are experimenting with Spider-Man's body. The Avengers also have a photo of Doom in their house, as shown in "World War Hulk".

In the Mutant X universe, Doom leads the United Nations in battle against the Goblyn Queen and later the Beyonder.[167]

An alternate of Doom with the powers of Charles Xavier is a superhero and leader of his own X-Men.[168]

In the alternative Wolverine-centric future shown on Earth-807128, the supervillains of the Marvel universe finally won and divided America (later renamed Amerika) up amongst themselves. Doctor Doom has his own area of land called New Latveria (also called Doom's Lair). He is seen for only a few panels dressed in all gray standing atop a cliff watching a now old Logan and Hawkeye driving the Spider Buggy built by the Human Torch. It is believed that Clyde Wyncham has taken on the role of Doom.[169]

On Earth-21923 that was similar to Earth-807128, Doctor Doom's history is still the same. After Old Man Logan killed Red Skull and Hulk, a power vacuum was caused in Amerika which led to Doctor Doom taking over the Presidential Quarter.[170] At one point during his takeover of the Presidential Quarter, he came across a village that was established by Baron Mordo. When Doctor Doom cut off Baron Mordo's access to Agatha Harkness, he killed Baron Mordo, took the Darkhold that was in his possession, and freed Sofia Strange and those enslaved to Mordo. In addition, he allowed Agatha to leave with her life while stating that she owes him. When asked by Sofia on what he plans to do with the Darkhold, Doctor Doom states that he is going to use it to rule.[171]

In an alternate timeline, Doom gathered most of the supervillains on Earth into an army, attempting to conquer the world. When his "soldiers" were defeated and imprisoned, Doom retreated to Latveria, creating an impenetrable forcefield over the whole country. Decades later, Wolverine receives word that Doom is holding her clone sister Bellona prisoner, and leads a covert attack to take Doom out once and for all. Doom manages to capture Laura, revealing that he deliberately leaked the intel that drove her to attack. He attempts to transfer his mind into Laura's body in order to escape his own decrepit form, only to discover that Laura is herself dying. Doom returns to his own body, but is killed by Laura immediately after.[172]

In Spider-Man: Life Story a reality in which the Marvel superheroes aged in real time and started their careers the same year as their publication, Doctor Doom has taken over Earth as a result of the Civil War between Captain America and Iron Man and a resistance being formed to combat him composed of those that didn't die or disappear entirely.[173]

In Alan Davis' mini-series, Fantastic Four: The End, Dr. Doom appears as a four-armed cyborg with little of his humanity left. Doom breaks during the "mutant wars" and is now a killing machine, focused on the deaths of the Fantastic Four. He engages in a final battle with the Four and is seemingly killed in an explosion when his powers react with those of Franklin and Valeria Richards. Doom is later revealed to be alive and conquers the Negative Zone after killing Annihilus and obtaining his power rod and immortality.

Dr. Doom is seen trying to destroy the Adjudicator, however he and his robotic planes are shown to disintegrate and he is last seen cheering the Fantastic Four (even though he will find a way to destroy them). How he survived remains unknown.

Doctor Victor von Doom's Earth 1610 doppelgänger, Victor van Damme. Artwork for the cover of Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 1, 12 (October 2004 Marvel Comics) 
Art by Stuart Immonen

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Doctor Doom is Victor van Damme, a direct descendant of Vlad Tepes Dracula. Victor is introduced as part of the Baxter Building, a government think-tank of young geniuses, which counts among its students Reed Richards and Susan Storm. He works to help Reed Richards develop a teleporter to the "N-Zone", but reprograms its coordinates without telling anyone. This causes the accident that gave the Ultimate Fantastic Four their powers, though Victor maintains that the original Richards programming was so bad that even he couldn't fix it, and that it was this that led to the accident. van Damme is caught in the same accident, and his flesh was changed into a metallic hide (with a somewhat reduced ability to perceive tactile sensations and pain), clawed hands, his legs transmogrified into demonic goat-hooved legs, and he re-appeared on Earth in Copenhagen. Initially, he assumes that he himself was the only one who had been transformed by the accident. Reed speculates this to be the result of Doom's own arrogance causing him to assume that only he was 'worthy' of such a transformation. Doom denounces Reed as a 'freak' during their initial confrontation when he finally learns what Reed's powers are.[174]

For a time, he is the charismatic leader of a small micronation called "Free State", "Freezone", or "The Keep", a Permanent Autonomous Zone located in Copenhagen, Denmark, where citizens lived without rent in a shanty town under squatter's rights, and were given free comforts and necessities in exchange for loyalty to Doom. There, a dragon tattoo was given to new settlers, incorporating microfibers that interfaced with the brain and acting as a mind control device. However, the Fantastic Four eventually freed them from Doom's control during their first battle, and all subsequently left, although they were unable to imprison Doom due to his diplomatic immunity as a result of his citizenship.[175]

During the Namor fiasco, the mother of Sue and Johnny Storm returned to New York. After the adventure, it was revealed that she possesses a similar dragon tattoo.

After the collapse of the Keep, Doom returned to Latveria, and in six months turned the country around. Latveria went from being a Third World nation to the ninth-richest country in the world. While seemingly happy, the citizens of Latveria are bearers of Doom's Dragon tattoos. He is revered by the citizens, who refer to him as "the good doctor".

In the same story arc, he switches bodies with Reed Richards in order to gain a life he felt was rightfully his, though leaving Reed with the wealth and control of Latveria; in his own form of honor, he felt this made him better than Reed, who he blamed for sullying his reputation with his claims that Doom's calculations were the ones at fault. This turned out to be part of his scheme to gain recognition by doing what Reed couldn't do — specifically, saving Johnny Storm's life from an alien parasite that he himself had summoned. Reed, having studied Doom's magical texts, returns to New York to battle the concurrent threat of the zombie Fantastic Four from an alternative universe, and absorbs the parasite, but it attempts to possess his mind. Reed defeats the zombie Fantastic Four and is willing to lose himself in the dimensions to erase the zombie threat, but Doom switches their bodies back and does so himself. His last request is to be remembered as the one who saved the world. However, this was not granted.

Doom seemed reappeared in issue six of Ultimate Power, a crossover between the "Ultimate Universe" and the universe of the revamped Squadron Supreme, seemingly intent on taking over the Supremeverse. In issue eight, it is revealed to be simply a Doombot (the first seen in the Ultimate Marvel continuity). Dr. Doom is seemingly later seen in Ultimates 3 as the one controlling Ultron. It is noted however, that, starting in "Frightful" and through his Ultimate Power and Ultimates 3 appearances, his 'goat legs' are not present and he resembles his regular 616 counterpart. As to why his former look has been abandoned is yet to be revealed.

The Thing supposedly killed Victor in his Latverian home as retribution for Doom's causing the events of Ultimatum; however' Doom later reveals that while in the zombie universe he had Sue and Johnny Storm's mother, Mary Storm, in disguise ruling in his absence. This was who The Thing unknowingly killed.[176]

The Ultimate version of Reed Richards, calling himself the Maker appears to for all intents and purposes have taken over the role of Doctor Doom – right down to his facial scarring. This may have been done to show how similar the two really are.

More recently, the Parliament of Doom (an organization constituted by numerous Doctor Dooms of alternative universes led by the Victor von Doom of Earth-616) fought the Fantastic Four in an alternative past of Earth-616, being one of the Doctor Dooms present very similar to Ultimate Doctor Doom, with features such as goat-hooved legs. It is yet unknown if that Doctor Doom is in fact from the Ultimate Universe or an alternative version of that reality.[177]

Following the events of Cataclysm, Phil Coulson and Danny Ketch reveal that the real Victor (who once again has his goat-hooved legs) was being held captive by S.H.I.E.L.D. before it disbanded. He is released and forced to join the Future Foundation alongside Invisible Woman, Falcon, and Tony Stark.[178]

When the time-displaced young X-Men are transferred into the Ultimate Marvel universe by accident, Doom captures and brainwashes the younger Beast to serve him, requiring the displaced X-Men to join forces with the new Ultimate Spider-Man and the Ultimate Marvel X-Men to rescue him.

Later on, it is revealed that Doom has teamed up with Hydra to "save" the world from corrupt governments. He captures Miles Morales and Jessica Drew, hoping to exploit their DNA to create an army of super soldiers. The All-New Ultimates come to rescue him, but Miles escapes with a power he was not aware he had, defeating Doctor Doom and all of Hydra single-handedly, before the sky turns red and the image of another Earth appears in the sky.[179]

Ultimate Doom is a scientific genius, though unlike Richards he approaches science as an art rather than as a system. While the Fantastic Four's powers are compared to the four classical Greek elements, Doom has attained the power of one of the additional Chinese elements, metal - his body is almost completely solid metal, possessing no discrete internal organs, somewhat similar to Colossus (though Doom cannot switch back to a flesh-and-blood form). In his first post-transformation encounter with the Fantastic Four, he expelled the remains of his internal organs as a poisonous gas. He can grow and fling porcupine-like volleys of metal spikes from his forearms, and also possesses a regenerative power, but he cannot heal any wound caused by his own body. Thus, the scar Reed made on Doom's face remains, because it was done with one of his own spikes. Doom exhibits super strength as well, as he is able to break the arms off the zombie version of Ben Grimm.[180] The creature Doom summoned selected his body as the most powerful it could find, passing up Thor and Thing.

The Ultimate Universe's Doom is also an accomplished sorcerer. Richards discovers that Johnny did not get the life form inside him from the Negative Zone. Rather, Victor "summoned" the creature inside Johnny. Later, Doom used sorcery to exchange minds with Richards. He proved powerful enough to fight with the Zombie Galacti and survive.[180]

Originally, in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Doom (visually identical to his normal Marvel self) was presented as president and "his holiness" of a theocratical Latveria. The country was said to be impoverished and starving, and Doom had declared a holy war (though without any open conflict) on the United States.[181][182] This would be ignored and retconned away in later Ultimate Marvel titles.

In Venomverse, Doom was consumed by the Poisons and became their second in command after Poison Thanos. He with the other Poison Heroes started battling the Army of Venoms in which he was the only survivor.[183] Then the Poisons tried to invade Earth-616, he and Thanos along with the other Poisons got killed, after the Poison Queen was destroyed.[184]

On the original Counter Earth, Victor Von Doom is a genius, but not a villain. He appears in the original Warlock series. Von Doom's armor is now represented only by the metallic mask and the green hood/cape is gone. He is referred to as "the most famous egghead in the country",[185] the "like spirit-brother"[186] of Reed Richards, and "a man as dedicated to counter-Earth's survival as Earth's Von Doom is to its enslavement".[187]

He and Reed Richards are mentioned in passing in Marvel Premiere #2 and Warlock #2 as scientists without any sort of super-powers. In Warlock #6, it is told how Von Doom and Richards had been roommates, friends and lab partners in college. After Von Doom's disfiguring accident, Richards' emotional support prevented him from becoming a villain. When Richards and his three companions hijacked a spaceship in order to be the first humans in space, Von Doom unsuccessfully attempted to talk him out of it. Though all of the counter "fantastic four" were exposed to cosmic radiation, it was only Richards that was affected due to the interference of Man-Beast though the effects only became apparent ten years later when he became the Brute due to "latent cosmic radiation - and a mysterious guiding hand".

In Warlock #5-7, Victor Von Doom was employed at the Livermore Valley Lab in California where he worked on "Earth-Corer-1", a vehicle designed to tunnel into the Earth. He warned the president of a massive earthquake that would be caused by a nuclear bomb test. The resulting earthquake accidentally activated "Antipersonnel missiles, nicknamed deathbirds"[185] which began killing people indiscriminately. Von Doom was able to destroy them with Adam Warlock's help, using one of his inventions called the "deactivator". He died while helping Adam Warlock stop the Brute from absorbing all of Counter-Earth's geothermal energy, turning him back into Reed Richards.

There are some "What If" stories revolving around Doctor Doom:

• In What If Doctor Doom had become a Hero?, Victor heeds Reed Richards warnings that his machine to contact his mother is dangerous, and with Reed's help corrects the device's faults and learns of his mother's plight in Hell. As in the real world he seeks the hidden sect of monks, but now becomes a force for good known simply as Doom. He frees his mother from Hell, by magic and then liberates Latveria from Count Ruffalo, marrying his beloved Valeria shortly afterwards. However, the evil demon Mephisto, enraged at losing the soul of Doom's mother, traps the monarch's entire nation in a glass ball, saying he will free them if to replace his mother's soul, Doom chooses to give either Valeria's or his own. Doom agonizes over this choice, but his ambition and pride are still stronger than his love and he chooses Valeria. Though still a force for good in the years to come, Doom spends each Midsummer's Eve (as he did for his mother's soul in the regular universe) battling demons in exchange for Valeria's soul.[188]
• In What If Doctor Doom Were Sorcerer Supreme? A young Victor Von Doom does not stay with the hidden sect of monks in the Himalayas but continues on to find the Ancient One. The Ancient One immediately sees Doom's vast potential and hopes that by taking him on as a student he can teach Doom humility and channel his talent away from evil. While using the hands of one of his robots to replace Stephen Strange's broken hands, Doom's fellow student Mordo is threatened by Doom's vastly superior talent and plans to kill off the competition. Doom easily turns the table on Mordo and plants a small bomb in his skull as insurance against further treachery. The Ancient One fears that Doom is growing into a dangerous power and so decides to conclude their relationship by taking Doom to Mephisto's realm to rescue Doom's mother. Later, Doom dies and transfers his memories into Stephen Strange.[189]
• In What if Doctor Doom had Become the Thing?, Recounting his college days, Doom again listens to Reed when he tells him of the flaw in his machine and becomes Reed's friend after this, but in this reality he is simply using Reed to further his own goals. During the construction of Reed's rocket, Doom notices the flaw in the shielding, but tells no-one, instead creating armor to protect himself. However, the armor actually absorbs and amplifies the cosmic rays, turning Doom into the Thing. Donning a cloth covering and the mask of his armor, he tries to kill Reed, believing him to be at fault. During the fight, Doom causes Ben Grimm (who never became Reed's test pilot and joined the army to assist in the Gamma Bomb Project, preventing Rick Jones from entering the test site) to be outside during the gamma bomb malfunctioning. The ensuing radiation exposure turns Ben into a hulk-like being who, calling himself "Grimm", beats back Doom, forcing him to flee.[190]
• In What If: Secret Wars, Doom is made aware of the Beyonder's survival by the Enchantress and kills him. He returns to Earth and defeats various threats to his power such as the Inhumans, Eternals and the remaining superheroes, with Tony Stark and Dr. Strange being the last opponents. He establishes a "paradise" on Earth by eliminating global warming, poverty, war and providing a device for unlimited energy. Next, he deals with cosmic threats and defeats the united forces of the Skrull, Kree, Shi'ar, Technarchy, Badoon and Brood. While in space, he obtains the Infinity Gems by defeating the Elders of the Universe. He uses them to release his mother's soul from Mephisto's captivity. Eventually, he comes in conflict with the Celestials, but defeats them after a 407-year-long battle. Earth has suffered from the conflict and Doom uses his remaining power to restore it. He rejoins humanity to aid and guide them to become a powerful force, introducing himself as simply "Victor" rather than Doom.[191]
• In What If: Iron Man: Demon in an Armor, Tony Stark is Doom's college roommate rather than Reed Richards, inspiring Doom to develop a machine that allows him to transfer his mind into Stark's body while leaving Stark trapped in his body with no memory of his past. While Doom uses Stark's connections and company to establish himself, the amnesic Stark- believing himself to be Doom- works to rebuild his life, creating his own company and forming his own reputation from the ground up. This culminates in a confrontation between the two wearing early versions of their respective armors- Doom having developed a green-and-silver Iron Man armor while Stark has created Doom's costume with gold and a red cloak-, during which Doom reveals the truth about their switch, only for Stark to reject the offer to switch back because Doom has destroyed the name of Tony Stark while Doctor von Doom has developed an honorable reputation.

In King Thor's timeline, Doom acquired the powers of Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Star Brand and Doctor Strange. He wanted to destroy the new mortals that appeared in a desolate Earth, but he got attacked by King Thor and Old Man Phoenix. During the battle, he killed Logan, which allowed the Phoenix Force to go to Thor right before Doom was about to use his Penance Stare to Thor. Now with the power of the Phoenix Force, Thor was able to defeat Doom.[192]

Since Doctor Doom is one of Marvel's most popular villains, he has been featured in many forms of merchandise, including various action figures and trading cards:

• In 1984, the first Doctor Doom figure was released as part of Mattel's Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars line.
• In 1990, a Doctor Doom figure was included in ToyBiz's Marvel Super Heroes line.
• In 1994, ToyBiz released another Doctor Doom figure based on his appearance in the Fantastic Four animated series. A larger, deluxe edition of this figure was also released during the same year.
• In 1998, ToyBiz released a Doctor Doom figure in their Marvel Comics Famous Cover series.
• In 2002, ToyBiz released a Doctor Doom figure and a Doombot variant in their Marvel Legends line. A scarred version of this figure was later released in 2006 as part of a 7-pack.
• In 2006, Hasbro released a Doctor Doom figure in their Marvel Legends Icons series.
• In 2007, Hasbro released a Doctor Doom figure in their Marvel Legends line. A repaint of this figure and a Future Foundation variant were released in their 2012 Marvel Legends Epic Heroes wave.
• In 2008, a "Slash Attack" Doctor Doom figure was released based on his appearance in the 2007 movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
• In 2009, a 3" Doctor Doom mini figure was released based on his appearance in MoonScoop's Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes animated series.
• In 2010, a Doctor Doom figure was released in Hasbro's Marvel Universe line. An unmasked and Future Foundation variant of this figure were later released as a 2011 NYCC exclusive and in 2012, respectively.
• In 2012, Upper Deck released "Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building game" Doctor Doom was one of 4 masterminds in the game along with Red Skull, Magneto and Loki
• In 2015, ThreeA released a Doctor Doom (Stealth) 1/6 scale figure, which was distributed by GoodSmile Company.
• Doctor Doom was part of the 2012 trading card game "Hero Attax".
• In 2019, a Doctor Doom figure was released in Hasbro's Marvel Legends line.
• In 2020, Doctor Victor Von Doom was added as a boss to the popular game Fortnite. Upon defeating him he drops his gauntlets which allow the user to fire blasts and an energy bomb.[193]