The Fantastic Four are the first major Marvel Comics team, with their introduction ushering in an era of Silver Age success for the publisher. Likewise, the group’s most notable foe is the villainous Doctor Doom, who’s also prone to fighting other characters in the Marvel Universe. While his prestige may be great, the villain is also far more revered than he should be.

Modern writers, in particular, have given too much high regard to Doctor Doom, who’s largely lacking in the necessary depth to deserve this. Many other Marvel villains are far better in nuance and don’t require the same amount of plot contrivances to work. Add in a corresponding team of somewhat outdated heroes, and it’s hard to justify how high Doctor Doom is placed on the Marvel pedestal.

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Doctor Doom Is a Walking Plot Device

Easily, the biggest issue with Victor von Doom’s alter ego is that Doctor Doom is a living deus ex machina. Due to his combination of scientific intellect and magic prowess, the former of which rivals his nemesis, Reed Richards, he’s always able to get himself out of a jam.

Doombots are mechanical Doctor Doom lookalikes who are always used whenever they’re most convenient, explaining away how Doom might seemingly be defeated or in cases where he acts out of character. Even victories by heroes such as The Hulk, who should be more than able to get the drop on Doom, are brushed away as merely being the losses of a malfunctioning Doombot, all while the real Doctor Doom cartoonishly cackles elsewhere. He’s always presented as an intangible, unobtainable peak, making him more of an ethereal obstacle than a truly complex villain.

One element that many fans and Marvel Comics writers fail to recognize and punish is Doom’s hubris and arrogance. While the villain is certainly a genius and incredibly resourceful, Doctor Doom’s greatest downfall is his self-centered vanity and the fact that he buys into his own hype. More often than not, his plans need to backfire due to superior minds or simply a collaborative effort (usually on the part of the Fantastic Four) coming together to thwart his schemes. Likewise, his hubris should be more commonly punished instead of him simply getting away repeatedly like some sort of Scooby-Doo! villain.

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It doesn’t help that writers bolster his powers and abilities, making it even more ridiculous when he loses. It’s ironically the issue that many erroneously have with DC Comics’ Superman and his power level, with Doom becoming so powerful that it’s impossible to write logical stories with him that don’t feel redundant. Despite all this, Victor von Doom maintains his crown, even if others are far more deserving of wearing it.

Other Marvel Villains are Far Better Than Doctor Doom

For as much credit as he’s given, Doctor Doom is a fairly one-dimensional foe in his usual portrayals. He’s essentially a much less interesting version of DC Comics’ Lex Luthor, even bearing a resemblance to Luthor’s classic mad scientist interpretation. DC, John Byrne (who once worked on Fantastic Four) and Marv Wolfman at least recognized the limitations of such a characterization, with the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Lex Luthor changing him into a much more relatable and interesting entrepreneur.

Even within the Marvel Universe, several villains are far more interesting and developed, including those who fill similar roles to Doctor Doom. For instance, both Mister Sinister and his cruel “master” Apocalypse are in the “dark overlord” archetype and have amorphous, all-encompassing powers and abilities. Given that they’re meant to be the ultimate X-Men enemies and not merely foes that the merry mutants constantly face.

This differs from Doom, who’s the main enemy of the Fantastic Four and whose catch-all powers are a lot more egregious in their narrative convenience. Likewise, X-Men enemy and occasional ally Magneto is everything Marvel acts like Doctor Doom is, as he actually has depth and tragedy. While the backstory of Doom’s mother being damned through her own sorcery is meant to give him a tinge of the same sadness, this is a veritable picnic compared to Erik Lensherr’s Holocaust backstory and feels borderline laughable in comparison.

The Nazi-tied Red Skull succeeds much more in being pure evil, and he’s the perfect Marvel villain for such a role. On the other hand, when Doom is given such gritty aspects, such as making armor out of someone’s skin, it’s merely trite and comes across as a forced attempt to make readers care about an otherwise silly villain. Criminal magnate The Kingpin is essentially Doom’s equivalent on the streets in terms of resourcefulness. Still, this more relatable and down-to-earth nature as a crime lord is far more compelling due to not being as over the top.

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Wilson Fisk’s relationship with Daredevil is usually given a lot more depth than Doom’s rivalry with Reed Richards, the latter of which has become a tired trope. Norman Osborn/Green Goblin is one of Marvel’s most popular villains of all time due to how deeply he strikes at his corresponding hero. Norman has ruined the life of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in many ways, and their mutual vendetta against each other has decades of depth justifying it.

Even the somewhat controversial Iron Man foe, The Mandarin, more topically represents the tropes of Doctor Doom. The Mandarin can be used in an over-the-top manner or a politically savvy one, and the “East vs. West” dynamic that the Chinese terrorist brings to the table is a lot more interesting than Doom’s made-up Latveria. If anything, Doom’s ironic affection for the people of Latveria is the only thing that gives the character much to fall back on narratively. It shows that he’s not merely a one-dimensional mustache-twirling villain, though even this concept can sometimes be played out. Given all this competition, it’s hard to see why Doom is so revered to this day, especially since the team that helped put him on the map has seen better days itself.

Doctor Doom Is a Cartoonish Villain for Marvel’s Most Outdated Heroes

Part of the issue with Doctor Doom may stem from the heroes he’s most tied to. While the team is historically important in the grand scheme of things for Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four brand hasn’t been relevant in decades, be it in comics or other media. By the time Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men run really hit its stride in the early 1980s, the F4 was already on the way out in terms of popularity, with the mutants eclipsing them ever since.

That’s remained the status quo for decades, with the largely disliked Fantastic Four movies not moving the needle for the team. On one hand, the bickering and more two-dimensional characterizations of the Fantastic Four (at least in the Silver Age) were a breath of fresh air that made them stand out from DC Comics’ lackluster publications. Sadly, too much of this has remained locked in their debut interpretations, and the other elements of the team aren’t quite as marketable nowadays.

While many fans love the idea of the Fantastic Four as a family, the lack of change for its status quo has made them seem much more stagnant than other heroes. They’re essentially Marvel Comics’ comfort food, but this is a double-edged sword in maintaining popularity. It doesn’t help that the family aspect can be too schmaltzy and saccharine, especially since the team lacks the edge or cool factor of other heroes such as Spidey, the X-Men, Daredevil and The Hulk. In criticizing the scope of the live-action movie adaptations, many fans have noted that the F4 aren’t meant to be just traditional superheroes. They’re sci-fi explorers, a concept that was very easy to sell in the 1960s and the 1970s. However, it’s largely outdated and less than fresh today, so the Fantastic Four being superhero versions of Johnny Quest and The Hardy Boys is beyond unfashionable.

Even some of the monstrous villains they face are steeped in a bygone era, having been a continuation of the monster comics that Marvel did to capitalize on the success of 1950s monster movies. Sure, the group has history on its side as the First Family, but this almost forced reverence has molded them into a team of characters that people pretend to care about more than actually being interested in them. While some comic book fans might appreciate the whimsical and goofy nature of the F4’s adventures, compared to the sleekness of Spider-Man or the sometimes grim exploits of the X-Men, the First Family comes off as the lamest thing humanly possible.

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Doctor Doom fits almost too well in the retro aspects of the Fantastic Four, coming off as a cackling fool with no depth who’s just there to vex the heroes before escaping through some inane plot. The description increasingly fits Doctor Doom to a T, with this lack of depth sadly becoming seen as the “true” way to write him. Jumping head first into the brand’s retro nature isn’t necessarily a good thing, namely if it’s done in the superficial way seen in the first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This only cements the idea that the Fantastic Four is an outdated and uncool team, giving newcomers little reason to care about the brand or characters.

It’s hard to see how this could be fixed in the long term, especially in the case of Doom. So many attempts to add to the character have been mediocre at best in execution. As mentioned, they largely come off as worse versions of developments already given to other villains. It might be worth accepting that the characters could always be “also-ran” next to the coolness of the X-Men and other characters, but this might also require Doctor Doom being given a lot less reverence. He certainly has the power to back up his acclaim, but beyond that, he’s a supervillain version of a summer blockbuster with great special effects and a lacking script.

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