One World Under Doom is the big Marvel event of the 2025, with Doctor Doom somehow taking over the world. Ever since One World Under Doom #1, readers have wondered why the world just rolled over and allowed Doom to declare himself as leader, all while changing them to be more like Latveria. Doctor Doom is a monster with a list of crimes longer than Mister Fantastic’s arm, and it’s easy to believe that Doom was using his new station as the Sorcerer Supreme to influence the leaders of the world. Doom has been constantly outsmarting the heroes, even curing the Thing of his cosmic radiation induced mutation, so he’s operating on another level. This has forced the Avengers to team up with the Masters of Evil, making a desperate plan to defeat Doom.
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It’s a pretty good plan, honestly. The lion’s share of the Avengers and Masters attack Latveria’s bubble — Doom has opened the borders of every country but Latveria — drawing Doom’s attention. Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch, Madelyne Pryor, and Baron Mordo try to use their powers to figure out how Doom has been manipulating the leaders of the world. The truth, though, is more mudane — and chilling — than anyone could have imagined: negotiation.
Doom Used the Power of the Sorcerer Supreme in a Way No One Could Have Predicted
The Avengers and Fantastic Four first assumed that Doom had replaced the world’s leaders with Life Model Decoys. They got this idea from the fate of Baron Helmut Zemo. Doom announces that Hydra has joined him and he’s putting them to work to undo the decades of damage they’ve done, with Zemo appearing alongside him. It’s learned that this was an LMD, because Doom had already killed Zemo for his crimes against humanity. However, the leaders weren’t LMDs; the leaders of the world where themselves. This led to the Avengers and Masters of Evil making their attack. Wanda, Mordo, and Madelyne, combining their magic and telepathic skills, are able to see that Doom did to get the leaders to listen to him. They learn he used the power of the Sorcerer Supreme, but not for mind control purposes. Instead, Doom used it to allow himself to appear in many places at once. Doom went to the leaders all at once, and negotiated with them.
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Doctor Doom has been a world leader for a good portion of his adult life. While Doom definitely throws his weight around, he also has mastered international relations. In the modern day, there’s no way any one country could survive without friends in other governments. Latveria has been able to ally with multiple countries over the years, including Atlantis and on occasion Wakanda, and that’s because Doom is as good a negotiator as he is a scientist. Doom knows when to use the carrot and when to use the stick. He was able to use the chaos of the recent attack of vampire hordes in last year’s Blood Hunt to convince everyone to listen to him, and promised the leaders of the world whatever they would need to agree to his terms. Sometimes, this was giving the country aid and other times it was giving the leaders their heart desire, whether it be money, security, more years of life, sex, or merely revenge. Doom going in this direction was completely unexpected and it shows just how far he’s willing to go to rule the world.
Doom Is Showing a Side Readers Don’t Often See
When Doom gained the power of the Sorcerer Supreme after Blood Hunt, everyone knew he was going to use the power to his advantage. However, everyone expected him to do something evil with it — mind control, evil magical clones, or some other trick. No one expected him to use the power to allow him to negotiate with people, playing the game of international relations at a level that anyone without magic couldn’t. Doom shows that having the foremost magical power on Earth is much more useful than anyone imagined, using the power in a way that no one expected.
Doom has always been something of a pragmatist, willing to do anything to reach his goals. Doom has been able to win in the past because he was willing to use his power in ways that no one else would. Using the power of the Sorcerer Supreme as a tool of negotiation shows that Doom is willing to go to any length to win, all while using the power in ways that no one ever would have suspected. Doom isn’t just doing this all on his own — the world is his ally. How else could Doom use this power against the world? Doom has changed the game again, and now the heroes have to deal with it.
One World Under Doom #3 is on sale now.
