Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 110. Who is Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics?

Transcript

Ep. 110. Who is Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics? · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

• 0:14
  Hi guys, it's Megan with the going to vibes and I'm here with
• 0:16
  another character breakdown and today is a pretty big character.
• 0:22
  Today I want to talk about Victor Von Doom, Doctor Doom.
• 0:27
  He's been in the headlines quite a bit lately and it just seems
• 0:31
  kind of silly not to talk about him, especially with in Marvel
• 0:35
  Comics, one world under Doom is in full effect right now.
• 0:39
  If you haven't checked out that event, do it.
• 0:42
  I love it I I'm having so much fun with it.
• 0:46
  If you have checked it out, let me know in the comments what you
• 0:48
  guys think about it because no one else I know is checking it
• 0:51
  out. It's just me and I'd like I'd
• 0:52
  like to talk to someone about it, but I'm veering off here.
• 0:58
  So with Avengers Doomsday coming and Robert Downey Junior is
• 1:02
  coming back to the MCU, but this time as Doctor Doom, what better
• 1:06
  time to learn all about everyone's favorite villain?
• 1:09
  Let's start with a quick back story.
• 1:12
  Back in July of 1962, Stanley and Jack Kirby came up with
• 1:16
  Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four number 5, setting him up
• 1:19
  immediately as the team's main bad guy.
• 1:22
  You have to think that's Fantastic Four number five.
• 1:24
  Only the 5th issue of of Marvel's First Family.
• 1:28
  So yeah, it was pretty immediate.
• 1:30
  When Doom first shows up to cause trouble, Mr. Fantastic
• 1:33
  recognizes him as Victor, a guy he went to college with known
• 1:37
  for being super into the occult. Victor once built a machine to
• 1:40
  contact the Netherworld, but it exploded and left him horribly
• 1:44
  scarred. After getting kicked out of
• 1:46
  school, he vanished to Tibet to dive deeper into magic and
• 1:50
  wasn't heard from until now. Most of that first issue focuses
• 1:56
  on Doom's evil plans in the present, but they dive more into
• 1:59
  his back story and Fantastic Four annual #2 in 1964, again by
• 2:05
  Lee and Kirby. That issue introduces Doom's
• 2:10
  home country, Latveria, a tiny nation tucked between Hungary,
• 2:15
  Romania, and Serbia. Turns out Victor was born into a
• 2:19
  Romani family that lived under a brutal regime.
• 2:22
  His mom, Cynthia, died when he was just a baby, and his dad,
• 2:25
  Werner, a very kind doctor, gave his life trying to protect him
• 2:29
  from soldiers. After that, a heartbroken Victor
• 2:32
  discovered his mother had been a powerful sorceress.
• 2:36
  Inspired by her hidden magical stuff.
• 2:38
  He became obsessed with mastering both science and
• 2:42
  magic, hoping to someday gain enough power to avenge his
• 2:45
  parents. As Victor got older, he turned
• 2:49
  into a bit of a Robin Hood figure, outsmarting the rich
• 2:52
  elites of Liberia, stealing from them and giving back to the
• 2:55
  poor. Eventually, he got a shot to
• 2:58
  study abroad in at the Empire State University in New York,
• 3:02
  where he quickly butted heads with Reed Richards.
• 3:05
  Who wouldn't though? Like, I think I would.
• 3:09
  But as we saw in his first appearance, things went S fast
• 3:12
  after a dangerous experiment blew up in his face, which later
• 3:16
  stories revealed was an actually an attempt to save his mother's
• 3:19
  soul from the demon Mephisto. After that failure, Victor left
• 3:25
  the US in disgrace and ended up in Tibet.
• 3:28
  There, he finished his magical training and built his iconic
• 3:32
  armor. That's when Victor von Doom died
• 3:34
  and Doctor Doom was born. He headed back to Latveria and
• 3:39
  used his new powers to lead a revolution against the brutal
• 3:42
  King Vladimir Fortunov. Doom took over as ruler, and the
• 3:48
  people happy to be rid of the old regimen welcomed him as
• 3:53
  their new leader. But Doom wasn't the type to stop
• 3:56
  at 1 Country. Believing that he could bring
• 3:59
  true peace and order to the world, he set his sights on
• 4:02
  global domination. Ever since, Doctor Doom has been
• 4:06
  one of the top villains of the Marvel Universe, a major threat
• 4:10
  to the Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and pretty much anyone
• 4:12
  who stands in his way. And let's be honest, fans love
• 4:15
  him for it. Something to keep in mind about
• 4:18
  Doctor Doom is that he's an extremely complex character.
• 4:22
  His complexity is what makes his character so compelling.
• 4:26
  Doom's complex personality and big picture goals also make him
• 4:29
  super flexible as a character. He can fit into all kinds of
• 4:33
  stories. He's not just some mustache
• 4:36
  twirling villain. He's fueled by jealousy and this
• 4:40
  rock solid belief that he is the only one capable of running the
• 4:43
  world the right way. He doesn't chase power just to
• 4:47
  cause chaos. He genuinely thinks he'd do a
• 4:50
  better job than the people in charge.
• 4:53
  His brain and sheer determination convince him that
• 4:57
  he's meant to bring about a new era of peace, but his massive
• 5:01
  ego usually leads to epic failures.
• 5:03
  And of course he never thinks it's his fault, never to blame.
• 5:08
  He can be Reed Richards biggest enemy, but at the same time show
• 5:12
  real care for Valeria, making sure she sleeps soundly at
• 5:16
  night. For those who don't know who
• 5:17
  Valeria is, that is the daughter of Sue Storm and Reed Richards
• 5:21
  who is actually godchild to Doctor Doom.
• 5:27
  The story is that Sue Storm was not doing well in her pregnancy
• 5:32
  and Reed Richards had no place to turn, no way to help.
• 5:36
  He had no clue how to save baby and mom.
• 5:39
  So he turned to Doctor Doom. And Doctor Doom did help, but he
• 5:43
  said he wanted to name the child and he named it.
• 5:48
  Named her Valeria. I think I'm saying it right.
• 5:51
  I, I've heard people say it differently.
• 5:53
  Valeria. Valeria.
• 5:56
  I like Valeria, for all his big talk and ego, Doom actually does
• 6:02
  want to make the world a better place.
• 6:05
  He lives by a personal code of honor, like never attacking
• 6:09
  someone who's unarmed. That said, he's pretty good at
• 6:13
  bending his own rules when it suits him.
• 6:15
  Depending on the story, he can be a ruthless villain to the
• 6:18
  Fantastic Four in Avengers, a wild card for Spider Man, a
• 6:22
  heroic revolutionary to his people, or even a God like
• 6:25
  savior running the show on Battle World.
• 6:29
  What makes Doom so interesting is all the contradictions.
• 6:32
  He's intense, he's complicated, larger than life, which makes
• 6:36
  him a character you can explore from all kinds of angles.
• 6:40
  So that is a brief description of who Doctor Doom is.
• 6:43
  He's a larger than life character and he is very, very
• 6:46
  complex. And someday I will make an
• 6:49
  entire video about his, his whole life, but I, I don't know
• 6:56
  who would watch it because it would be like maybe an hour
• 6:58
  long. So if you're into it, let me
• 7:01
  know. So here's some interesting
• 7:04
  tidbits about Doctor Doom that I think can give you an even
• 7:08
  better idea of what kind of character he is.
• 7:12
  So for one, Doctor Doom blends magic and science together.
• 7:15
  Unlike other inventors like Iron Man or Forge, Doctor Doom is one
• 7:19
  of the rare characters in the Marvel Universe who mixes
• 7:22
  science and magic like it's it's no big deal.
• 7:24
  His mom, Cynthia, came from a long line of powerful witches
• 7:28
  and passed those magical abilities down to Victor, who
• 7:32
  spent a lot of his younger years learning the Mystic arts.
• 7:35
  Doom's genius really shows and how he blends the two.
• 7:39
  His weapons and tech are super advanced but also infused with
• 7:42
  magic. His armor?
• 7:44
  It's even more high tech than Iron Man's and loaded with
• 7:47
  hidden features that boost his magical powers even more.
• 7:51
  Currently in Marvel Comics, Doctor Doom is the Sorcerer
• 7:55
  Supreme after Doctor Strange gave up the title to him.
• 7:58
  If you haven't checked out One World under Doom event again, I
• 8:02
  highly recommend it. He is World Emperor and Sorcerer
• 8:06
  Supreme in that, and he is a problem for everyone except his
• 8:10
  followers and his Doom bots. To put it in perspective on what
• 8:16
  kind of problem Doctor Doom really is, let me tell you about
• 8:19
  the time he destroyed an entire universe just out of spite.
• 8:23
  If there's one word that sums up Doctor Doom, it's petty.
• 8:28
  For all his genius, his mind blowing inventions, his world
• 8:31
  shattering weapons, Victor Von Doom can be incredibly small
• 8:35
  minded from the start. Stanley and Jack Kirby made his
• 8:38
  arrogance in vanity his biggest flaws.
• 8:41
  His pride literally ruined his face, first in a lab accident
• 8:45
  and then again when he slapped a red hot metal mask onto his skin
• 8:49
  out of sheer ego. Out of all the villains in
• 8:52
  Marvel, Doom might be the one who fails the most because he
• 8:57
  just can't swallow his pride. So in today's world of more
• 9:01
  complex, evolving characters, where does that leave someone
• 9:04
  like Doom? That's the question the 2019
• 9:08
  miniseries Doctor Doom by Christopher Cantwell tries to
• 9:11
  explore. The story follows Doom after
• 9:14
  he's wrongly accused of a massive act of terrorism and
• 9:17
  starts having these haunting visions of a perfect life.
• 9:21
  His face is healed, he is married, he's known as a hero
• 9:24
  who saved the world. When he finally makes it to a
• 9:28
  version of reality where all that is true, his alternate self
• 9:32
  tells him the key to it all. Just forgive Reed Richards and
• 9:36
  let go of this jealousy. But Doom being Doom and doing
• 9:41
  Doom things, he refuses to admit he might be the problem.
• 9:45
  Instead he grabs the ultimate nullifier, a weapon that can
• 9:48
  wipe out entire universes and destroys that reality rather
• 9:52
  than deal with the truth. So that's how petty he is.
• 9:58
  That is a that's how strong willed he is and that's how hard
• 10:03
  headed he is. He he's just like me for real.
• 10:07
  So moving on, you really can't talk about Doctor Doom without
• 10:13
  bringing Latveria up. If you only know his The
• 10:16
  Fantastic Four from the live action movies, which is true for
• 10:19
  a lot of fans. You might not realize that
• 10:22
  Doctor Doom isn't just some random villain in a mask from
• 10:24
  somewhere called Latveria, he's actually the ruler of his own
• 10:27
  country. Doom runs Latveria.
• 10:30
  It's a fictional Eastern European location so don't think
• 10:35
  it's real because I have seen some that think it's real.
• 10:39
  It's usually shown as a quiet farming based country that
• 10:42
  totally depends on Doom's leadership and his advanced
• 10:45
  tech. There's no crime, no corruption,
• 10:47
  no illness, no drugs. But it is also a full on
• 10:51
  dictatorship. The people live under constant
• 10:54
  surveillance with Doom's robot enforcers, the Doombots I
• 10:58
  brought up earlier, keeping everyone in line because he's
• 11:02
  head of state. Doom isn't just a super villain,
• 11:05
  he's a big political player. When he travels abroad,
• 11:09
  including his many trips to the US, he does it as a diplomat,
• 11:13
  and sometimes heroes like The Avengers even have to act as a
• 11:17
  sick security. And even though he's done some
• 11:20
  wild stuff like launching the Baxter Building into orbit, he
• 11:25
  usually gets away with it because of diplomatic immunity.
• 11:29
  Outside of that, he also tried to expand various territory
• 11:33
  quite a few times, picking fights with places like
• 11:36
  Simkaria, Wakanda, even the Savage Land.
• 11:41
  So that is a brief breakdown of who Doom is as a character.
• 11:46
  He is, he's based. That's all I can say.
• 11:52
  So like always, I have some comics that you can check out to
• 11:55
  get to know Doom a little better.
• 11:58
  We'll start with Fantastic Four number 57 through 60, Iron Man
• 12:04
  #149 to 150, Fantastic Four number 258, Doctor Strange and
• 12:17
  Doctor Doom, Triumph and Torment it.
• 12:20
  That one's fantastic. You have to read that one.
• 12:24
  You have to. Fantastic Four number 350 to
• 12:28
  352, Fantastic Four number 67 to #70 and Fantastic Four number
• 12:35
  500 from 2003 for the unthinkable storyline, Books of
• 12:41
  Doom, Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil.
• 12:48
  Secret Wars, obviously Infamous Iron Man That gives you a really
• 12:53
  good look at who he is outside of the power, outside of being
• 12:59
  in control. Doctor doom #1 this is what we
• 13:04
  saw Robert Downey Junior have an on his Instagram when he said he
• 13:09
  had the Doom essentials on the set of Avengers Doomsday.
• 13:13
  It's also a really good one with him and Valeria, so check it
• 13:16
  out. My first personal favorite
• 13:18
  current event. Like I said again and again,
• 13:21
  check out One World under Doom and definitely check out
• 13:27
  Thunderbolts Doom Strike. It's I just think it's one of
• 13:31
  the best things that came out of one World under Doom and I'll
• 13:33
  never stop talking about it. So at some point I will release
• 13:39
  his full background. So be on the lookout for that.
• 13:41
  And thank you for joining me for this breakdown of Doctor Doom.
• 13:47
  He is my favorite villain. I love him.
• 13:51
  He is, he thinks he's right. He's very narcissistic.
• 13:56
  He thinks he's right, he doesn't think he's the villain and he
• 13:59
  cannot handle being wrong. And that's that's why I would
• 14:03
  love him. But I'm excited to see what
• 14:04
  Robert Downey Junior does with his character because right now
• 14:07
  we really have no idea. So with that being said, be sure
• 14:10
  to like and subscribe and have a marvelous night.