Marvel Once Made Doctor Doom Its Greatest Hero and It May Be the Key to His MCU Future

Doctor Doom has long been considered by many to be the greatest Marvel villain and he’s about to make his biggest splash yet, played by Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday. Doom first appeared back in Fantastic Four #5, soon becoming the chief villain of the First Family of the Marvel Universe. He got more and more popular and would eventually start fighting other heroes, including Iron Man. While Doom and Stark aren’t exactly arch-enemies, they are two character who are pretty similar in a lot of ways, leading to them becoming rivals. Their connection is one that Marvel is playing off by having the Iron Man actor play the Latverian monarch, leading numerous MCU fans to talk about the Infamous Iron Man era.

This twelve issues series ran through 2016 and 2017, from creators Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. The story took place in the aftermath of two major Marvel events – Secret Wars, where Reed Richards healed his face, and Civil War II, which ended with Tony Stark in the coma. Doom had a new lease on life at the time and he decided that he was going to pay homage to his old enemy, modifying his armor and becoming a new Iron Man (Riri Williams was using the name at this time as well, so technically there were two Iron Men). The series, and his appearances in the books that came after it like Marvel 2-In-One, showed a different side of Doom and it’s one the MCU would do well to remember in the future.

Doctor Doom’s Stint as Iron Man Proved That He Could Be More

Doctor Doom has starred in brilliant stories over the decades. One of the interesting things about Doom is that despite him being a monster at times and doing seriously reprehensible things, he’s a villain that most fans will actually make excuses for. Creators have taken the evil, petty, egomaniacal monarch and added a heaping helping of honor to him. Suddenly, he was the guy who loved Latverians and never did anything bad to them unless he absolutely had to. He was a pragmatist willing to do the hard things to save the day when no one else would.

Doctor Doom is a monster, but like most monsters, there is charisma and tragedy under it all. It’s often been said that if Doom hadn’t lost his parents, he would have turned out better as a person and probably would have become the best hero in the world. Infamous Iron Man played on this idea. Secret Wars ended with Doom admitting to Reed Richards that he was the wrong person to recreate the multiverse and that Reed should have been the one in his place. It was a huge moment in the character’s history and Marvel used it perfectly.

Reed healed Doom’s face and he decided that since he wanted to world to see this version of him and not the villainous one. As Iron Man, he started out by going after Fantastic Four villains, since the team was disbanded and no one would be around to fight them. SHIELD began to investigate him, believing it was all part of some longterm plan, leading to the Thing getting involved. However, he was genuine the whole time. The series would see him going up against Mephisto, who was trying to turn the world against Victor and ruin his redemption.

There were a lot of fans at the time who thought that the idea of Doom as Iron Man was going to be a complete and total stinker, but Bendis and Maleev were able to make it work. While it was a little weird that he wasn’t speaking in the third person and making Bendisian quips, it fit the idea that he was a new person. This idea would be rammed home in 2017’s Marvel 2-In-One. This was one of Chip Zdarsky’s first major writing jobs, starring the Thing and Human Torch.

The first story arc is about them realizing they’re losing their powers (basically, the Fantastic Four’s powers feed off each other and without all four of them around each other, they’ll lose them) and deciding to search the multiverse for Reed and Sue. This leads to them asking for help from Doom, the three of them traveling the multiverse together. The book becomes a Thing/Human Torch/Doom team-up book for several issues and it is excellent. I remember reading it when it was coming out and loving Zdarsky as a writer, hoping he was the one who would get to reboot the FF.

The change in the way that fans saw Doom is something that needs to be studied. It’s an example of what can happen when a villain gets popular enough. Fans started to ignore all the examples of his worst acts and played him as the misunderstood villain. It helped that we saw him saving the universe and fighting alongside the heroes against cosmic threats, leading a new conception of Doom to life. I feel like the Infamous Iron Man era of 2016-2018 is an example of Marvel playing in to what fans wanted.

During this period, they created the Doctor Doom that had popped up in fans’ minds over the years. Here was the honorable Victor Von Doom, the one who used his skills to help the world. He wasn’t an egomaniac anymore, working hard to become humble, and even worked with his foes. This was the ultimate evolution of heroic Doom, showing everything that he could have been. It’s a different side of him and it’s one that the MCU needs to play off of.

Victor Von Doom as Iron Man Showed Readers What Could Have Been

Fans are thrilled for Avengers: Doomsday, with many Doctor Doom theories swirling around. One of the fears that comic fans have about Doom in the MCU is the curse of MCU villains. Marvel Studios is known for messing up Marvel’s villains when they get to the big screen, leaving out crucial parts of their character and replacing them with quips. Lots of great villains have been ruined by Marvel Studios and comic fans don’t want the same to happen to Doctor Doom.

One of the most important things that you need to give Doctor Doom in 2026 is that good side. You need to let fans see him as more than just the monstrous villain. He works because he is more than just a bad guy, he’s a person who has had a complicated life and it’s taken him in some bad directions. The Infamous Iron Man era of the character showed readers that the good side of him wasn’t just an affectation. It showed that there was someone good underneath it all, which makes him more tantalizing for many fans. Doom is a multi-faceted character and the MCU needs to remember every facet, not just the villainous one.

What do you think of the Infamous Iron Man era of Doctor Doom? Do you think it fit the character or was it a mistake? Sound off in the comment section below.

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