Major Marvel Villain Gets Insane Power Upgrade in the Future

Fans were expecting an epic throwdown between King Thor and Old Man Phoenix in Thor #5. What they didn't expect was to see a Marvel villain at what may be his most powerful.

SPOILERS for Thor #5 by Jason Aaron and Christian Ward follow.

Thor #5 takes readers to the far future of the Marvel Universe. The entire universe is going dead, collapsing in on itself. King Thor, the Allfather of Asgard, and his granddaughters, the Goddesses of Thunder, are bucking that trend. Thor managed to reignite life on Midgard and repopulate Earth with humans.

But King Thor knows the universe is closing in on itself. He sent his trusty hammer, Mjolnir, out looking for answers. What it found was Thor's old friend, Wolverine, who is now possessed by the Phoenix Force.

Thor expects a happy reunion with Logan, but that's not how things go. Old Man Phoenix is furious that Thor restarted life on Earth instead of letting it die like it was supposed to. Now Earth is going to have to die all over again, and if Logan doesn't do it someone much worse will.

Who could be worse than Wolverine possessed by the Phoenix? The Goddesses of Thunder find out when a ship arrives over Earth. Fin Fang Foom and three other Marvel monsters make landfall. Foom warns Thor's granddaughters to prepare for the master, but Thor's granddaughters are unimpressed and make short work of the monsters.

That's when Foom has to explain that he is not the master. The master is Doom:

Marvel fans have never seen Doom like this. Here he is possessed by most of the powers shared by the Avengers of 1,000,000,000 BC, featured in Jason Aaron's Avengers. He is the Sorcerer Supreme and the Spirit of Vengeance. He has the Starbrand and the Iron Fist.

We've never seen Doom with quite so many varied powers before, but is this him at his most powerful altogether? That's debatable. After all, he did become God-Emperor Doom and recreate the entire universe as Battleworld in Secret Wars. Still, even the combined might of King Thor, Old Man Phoenix, and the Goddesses of Thunder will likely struggle to defeat Doom in this state with his monstrous minions.

What do you think of the major power upgrade Marvel just gave to Doctor Doom? Let us know in the comments!

Thor #5 by Jason Aaron and Christian Ward is on sale now.