The History And Evolution Of Doctor Doom From Comics To Robert Downey Jr.
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Among the Fantastic Four’s rogues gallery, Doctor Doom stands out as their main foe. Diabolical, ruthless and with a mastery of both science and sorcery, Doom has been their number one enemy for several years. This raises the question, “Just how did he become the FF’s most iconic villain?”
Doom’s story is one that dates back many decades, and many incarnations of the team in the media. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby themselves, Doom would see an evolution across the comics, shows and movies featuring him. We shall go in deep to see just what lies under that metal mask of his.
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Doom’s first appearance was in issue #5. As stated before, he was created by Lee and Kirby, who wanted a “super sensational new villain” for the book. Lee came up with the name, finding it “eloquent in its simplicity — magnificent in its implied menace.” In his first appearance, Doom captured Invisible Girl, using her as a hostage to force the Four to travel back in and steal Blackbeard’s treasure for him. Though Reed managed to foil his plot, Doom escaped, setting him up to become the Four’s most recurring archnemesis.
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The full origin of Victor von Doom would be revealed two years after his first appearance, the Fantastic Four Annual #2. There it is revealed that Doom was a member of a Romani tribe born in Latveria, a fictional Balkan country. His doctor father was kidnapped by the ruler to attend to his wife, and they were forced to flee when she dies, his father dying to exposure. Eventually, Doom discovers that his late mother was a witch, and decides to use her secrets to get revenge on the upper classes of Latveria, and began a guerilla war. This gets the attention of Western academia, which brings changes to Doom’s life and sets him on the path to supervillainy.
Doom’s action has grabbed the attention of the Empire State University, who offered him a chance to study in the United States. He took the chance, leaving his home behind. There he met Reed Richards, the future Mr. Fantastic, and created a device to communicate with the dead. Ignoring Richards’ warnings, Doom caused an explosion that damaged his face and led to his expulsion. He would wander around for ages, until he came across some Tibetan monks. Mastering their disciplines, he donned his Iron Mask, conquered Latveria and swore revenge on Richards, who he blamed for the accident.
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This has been Doctor Doom’s backstory for several years now. While various aspects have been added to or expanded, it has remained an integral part of his character. Doom has appeared in several storylines in the Marvel universe, including Secret Wars, where he gained the power of the Beyonder. Other notable developments have also been the idea that the Doom seen in a story could be a robotic doppleganger, which would become something of a recurring trend in the comics. Doom has even been an occasional ally to the Fantastic Four, though not often.
Of course, this is just the comics. Adaptations have given Doctor Doom a second life of sorts. Whenever the Fantastic Four sees an adaptation, Doctor Doom is not far behind, always serving as a prominent villain. Be it television or film, these adaptations have further burned the mask of Doctor Doom into the minds of comic book fans around the world. As such, there have been many actors to play the role, and many surprising twists and turns regarding it. This will be the focus of this next part of the article, so keep reading.
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In the world of television, The Marvel Super Heroes was the first to feature Doctor Doom, voiced by Henry Ramer, but not the Fantastic Four. That would come in Hanna-Barbera’s 1967 cartoon series, in which he was voiced by Joseph Sirola. Since then, he’s appeared in every Fantastic Four show, including the 1994 series, which saw him voiced by Neil Ross in the first season and Simon Templeman in the second, and World's Greatest Heroes, where he was voiced by Paul Dobson. He has also appeared in various Marvel adaptations outside of the FF, including the Marvel Super Hero Squad, in which he was voiced by Charlie Adler, and X-Men '97, where he was voiced by Ross Marquand.
In the world of Film, the unreleased 1994 film by Constantin Film would have been the debut of Doom. He was played by Robert Culp, and portrayed as Reed’s former college roommate. His “proper” debut in the 2005 film, meanwhile, sees him played by Julian McMahon as the sponsor of the Fantastic Four’s space expedition, which mutates him into his armored form. He returned in The Rise of the Silver Surfer. Toby Kebbel’s performance in Fan4stic, portrayed as an anti-social computer programmer, was ultimately criticized as barely resembling the character.
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Of course, Robert Downey Jr. has been tapped to play the character next. Though not without controversy, Downey will be the latest in a line of actors stretching back to the 60’s. No one knows how he'll play the role yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Written by Ian Patrick Smith
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