A Master of Evil Just Called the Avengers Useless (& They’re Right)

One World Under Doom has seen Doom conquer the world after gaining the power of the Sorcerer Supreme. Of course, the Fantastic Four and Avengers jump into action, but Doom has seemingly thought of everything. Doom is one of the most dangerous people on Earth, taking the heroes down at every turn as much through good strategy as brute strength, which has led the Avengers to team with the Masters of Evil, their villainous opposite number. One World Under Doom #3 sees the two groups talk out their plan, which leads to Arcade, a mercenary who creates intricate death traps to destroy his targets, makes a rather adroit observation of the situation, calling the Avengers useless in the current conflict.

Now, it’s easy to just write this statement off as villainous hubris. Arcade likes to mess with his enemies, and he could be doing that here, but he’s actually right. The Avengers are making stupid mistakes, and Doom is making them pa for it. Arcade has always been a smart villain — one doesn’t create death traps like his without some genius — and if anyone can call out the Avengers for mistakes, it’s him.

Arcade’s History Reveals Why He’s Right about the Avengers

Not really much is known about Arcade’s life before he became supervillain. The most likely story is that he was the son of a wealthy man who he killed when he turned 21. Whatever the case, Arcade found that after his first kill he loved murder, and eventually became the villain we know today. Arcade is a highly skilled killer, but he became most known for Murderworld, his traveling carnival of death that he uses to take down his targets. As much as Arcade loved killing, he also loved watching his victims struggle through his traps, seeing it as a game that pit his intellect and skill against theirs. Arcade got popular fighting the X-Men and Spider-Man, and soon became a high level mercenary in the world. He even developed a grudge with Captain Britain, trying to kill him for free. Arcade was never much of an Avengers villain, but that changed when he kidnapped the students of Avengers Academy, trapping them in the deadliest version of Murderworld, killing several students.

RELATED: Marvel Teases Doom’s Dark Secret (and a Fantastic Four Member Knows It)

Arcade doesn’t have the best reputation anymore — Murderworld is impressive but his amount of superhero kills were nil until he went after the students of Avengers Academy. However, Arcade does understand how to go after superhumans. His traps show a very intelligent villain, and he’s watched his foes outsmart him many times. He does have a good grasp on the kinds of things that can defeat superheroes and supervillains, so if he’s telling the Avengers that they aren’t doing well, there are few villains better qualified to make that accusation. Arcade knows failure at a level that most villains don’t. His attacks are always meticulously planned, and he’s seen them fall apart. He’s watching the same thing happen to the Avengers.

Arcade Actually Does Better than the Avengers in the Attack on Doom

The Avengers and the Masters of Evil’s plan is a two-prong assault — the Avengers and the Masters attack Doom, while Scarlet Witch, Madelyne Pryor, and Baron Mordo try to figure out if Doom is mind-controlling the world’s leaders. It’s a better plan than the Avengers and Fantastic Four have dropped on Doom so far, since the actual fight against Doom is only there as a distraction. However, the Avengers still fail during this fight. Do you know who almost succeeds? Arcade. He tries to snipe Doom from afar and is almost successful, something the heroes can’t say.

Arcade’s whole point so far has been the Avengers and the Fantastic Four don’t go far enough with their plans, which is why Doom has been able to beat them. The difference between the heroes and Doom is that Doom will do whatever is necessary to win, whereas the heroes won’t. That’s why Arcade’s assault was almost successful; instead of trying to go all elaborate, Arcade does the simplest thing possible — try to shot Doom in the head while he’s distracted. It’s something a hero would never do, but would probably be much more successful if they did. Arcade shows that maybe all of these plans against Doom fail because everyone else is overthinking it, allowing moral decisions to interfere with getting the job done.

One World Under Doom #3 is on sale now.