The more backstory they put into the MCU, the more ridiculous it looks in retrospect that the US government waited until 2007 to consider putting together a team of super-powered individuals. By 2040 we’re gonna have a movie where the first Captain America was a Boston patriot in 1775 with a costume and shield made by Paul Revere, fighting against a cabal of British necromancers lead by an undead John Dee with an Infinity Stone.
I legitimately did not know that was a thing.
As much as I hate the multiverse, I’m down for a Silver Age universe where none of the characters have been updated for a modern audience. When Fury, Grimm, and Richards were WWII vets, the FF beat the commies to space, radioactivity gave you superpowers, monsters wore speedos, superheroines were all “something-Girl”, and costumes had wrinkles in them.
I am intrigued and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Is this “Rule 35” of comics? “No matter how ridiculous a storyline you can imagine, it’s already been done (and probably had it’s own special).”
A The Woman From S.H.I.E.L.D. limited series set in the Cold War ‘Sixties and headlined by Hayley Atwell would be great. Where did Nick Fury dig up all of that WWII Hydra weaponry, and why was Hydra able to operate within both NATO and the Warsaw Pact without anyone suspecting? How much of the Cold War conflict was fomented by deep penetration Hydra conspirators, and what disasters were averted by the pre-Avengers heroes like the original Ant-Man and other powered individuals? Agent Carter came and went mostly without notice while the increasingly absurd Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. way overstayed its essential premise, but the former was actually pretty good given the budgetary and narrative limitations of episodic television.
Stranger
That movie remains the best Fantastic Four movie yet.
No, the best Fantastic Four movie was The Incredibles.
I like Robert Downey Jr a lot. I will reserve judgement of him as Victor until I see it. But if he plays him as a wisecracking guy in a metal mask, I will be sorely disappointed. That isn’t Doom.
But it’s called “acting” for a reason. I won’t see he can’t do it until I see him do it. There was a time when the idea of Jim Carrey playing a dramatic role would have been a joke, but much of his best work has been outside of comedy.
In the original concept, as the character was conceived of by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it wasn’t. The accident only gave him a single inconsequential scar. The only reason why Doom made such a big deal out of it was that he was a perfectionist and even such a minor blemish was unacceptable to him.
If you can’t see the image well, or read the text, there is a small scar on his right cheek, and that is what the mask was covering. That was Kirby’s original sketch showing what Doom would look like without the mask (which was kept a mystery in the comics for a very long time).
Later on, other writers expanded upon the idea by saying that Doom scarred his own face intentionally by forging a mask but donning it before it cooled, and obliterating his features in a fit of rage. Essentially, cutting off his nose to spite his face, except to a literal and extensive degree.
Which I thought was stupid. I liked the original idea that there was nothing really wrong with his face, the disfigurement was only in his own mind. And it’s not unrealistic either; people who look perfectly fine in real life have gone to great lengths to “fix” flaws that other people don’t see. But that’s just my opinion.
Another thing I’m curious about, and a reason why I liked Doom so much as a villain, is that he was both a mechanical genius and a sorcerer. He wasn’t pigeonholed into being one or the other. I’d like it if they portrayed that in this version.
It’s definitely still accurate. They have named which Earth it is but I can’t remember which one and I can’t find it now. It’s in a stylized 1961 that looks like a late 50s vision of what the future should look like. Of course they have a couple of films to figure out how to get everyone together.
There is a more graphic retelling.
I have been thinking about this (This is what I do while I am doing the dishes). You can’t have a Doctor Doom who isn’t Victor von Doom, so I don’t think this will be a one for one Tony Stark Variant (although he still could be from an alternate universe). Here’s what that leaves us:
- He’s a clone of Tony Stark.
- He’s a half brother of Tony Stark (Howard had a wandering eye in Europe during the war and now this kid has a Daddy issue smothering Latveria).
- It’s just RDJ playing a part. The helmet almost never comes off so he’s playing it Mandalorian style and when it does he is unrecognizable like Vader. There is no connection to Tony.
It will be one of the three I think.
I think the world is ready for Pastepot Pete.
Would you be open to: he concluded that his best odds of taking over involved getting some plastic surgery and doing a really great impression of Tony Stark’s voice? Or, uh, something something sorcerer’s ways? The idea being, he’s not a clone or a half-brother — but, whenever that helmet comes off, he’s entirely recognizable, because, well, that’s his plan?
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Multiverse…
I seem to remember Reed Richards saying that Kang was a descendant of Doom, or something. I suppose it is a bit like Charlemagne - go back far enough, and we are all related to him. Or to Danny Dyer.
And then there’s this:
Of course, today he would have to be “the spongy who became Doctor Doom”.
Of course, there’s always the chance Doom might have a friend over for dinner:
