Marvel’s New Crossover Event Begs The Question: Is Doom Right?

One World Under Doom has dropped, and what a yarn it spins. Marvel has been ramping up Doctor Doom for months now, since the end of Blood Hunt, and this story, by Ryan North and R.B. Silva, brings things to the next level. Doctor Doom has been getting a lot of focus lately — the Fortnite crossover, Robert Downey Jr. being announced playing the character for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, his role as the main villain in Marvel Rivals — and One World Under Doom lays out his plans for the comic Marvel Universe. At the core of the story is a simple question, and it’s one that fans have been asking themselves about Doom for years — is Doom right?

Doctor Doom has been talking about why he should rule the world for decades in the comics and One World Under Doom shows him proving why that’s true. Doom’s actions in the book — forcing countries around the world to implement world peace, free healthcare, and free higher education — are those of a hero, as is his extermination of Hydra. However, are Doom’s actions right? Is he really the right person to rule the world?

Doom Is a Great Monarch, But There Is Always Something Rotten Underneath It All

Let’s get this out of the way, right now — Doom’s actions in One World Under Doom #1 are all correct. The governments of the world should do more for their citizens. Capitalism is a system that needs to be overhauled. The world should be at peace, and Nazis deserve death. Nearly every line Doom speaks in this comic is exactly right. Doom has always made sure that the people of Latveria didn’t want for anything. Of course, he did this for them only if they loved him. Anyone who didn’t love Doom was going to suffer, and that’s the problem any time Doom is given the kind of power he has right now.

The last time Doom had this kind of power was in Secret Wars (2015). God Emperor Doom saved the remnants of the multiverse and made sure something survived the Beyonders’ plan of multiversal destruction. However, the thing readers learn by the end is that Doom always had the power to rebuild the multiverse exactly the way it was. Doom could have remade the cosmos exactly how it was before using the power he, Strange, and Molecule Man had taken from the Beyonders. He just refused to. He built the multiverse he wanted, one where he was the God Emperor and everyone else had to worship him. His admittance that Reed Richards would have done a better job than him says it all, really.

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This is the problem with anything good that Doom does; Doom loves those who love him fiercely, but that love is the love of the monarch for the subject. Doom believes that a monarch should do everything in their power to make the lives of their subjects better, and that’s how he rules. However, Doom also believes that the subjects owe their complete fealty to their monarch. That’s the deal, the social contract of the monarchy under Doom — Doom will do everything he can to make his subjects’ lives better, but they must worship him. Again, the best example comes from Secret Wars, when he learns that the Braddock family, barons of Higher Avalon, were allowing anti-Doom rebels to move through their territory. His judgment was swift and sure, exiling Jamie Braddock out beyond the Wall, where the zombies and symbiotes roamed. Doom later kills Doctor Strange when he starts to question the rule of the God Emperor. This is how Doom deals with anyone who doesn’t love him completely.

This is why Doom taking over the world is such a frightening prospect for everyone. Doom will make the world a better place, cosmetically at least. However, eventually, the worm will turn and Doom’s anger will override his goodwill. Woe betide his subjects when that happens.

Doom Is Right, But Doom Should Never Have the Power He Has Now

One World Under Doom has kicked off in the most exciting way possible. It’s an amazing first issue, and it’s easy to get behind Doom in the book. Doom is just fixing a society that has become broken, and giving the people the things they deserve anyway. He’s doing what the heroes have never been able to do; not only is he taking care of the population of the world, but he ends the threat of Hydra. It’s easy to read this book and cheer for every Doctor Doom moment in it. However, there’s definitely something terrible under all of this, and it’s going to turn all the good Doom has done into something terrible.

Doom is a narcissist; there’s no other way about it. Doom only does good things to aggrandize himself. He wants the love and adulation of everyone around him. Is Doom right? Yes, he is right, but right now, he’s winning. Doom is magnanimous in victory, but his cruelty will always shine through. Doom is going to tough nut to crack, but the hardest part will be the fact that many of the people will love him for what he’s done to them. They’ll love him so much, that they’ll overlook the people who don’t love him disappearing. And that is why Doom is also wrong.

What do you think of Doom’s plan? Let us know in the comments below!