If your only exposure to Doctor Doom was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then you've been done a disservice. Moreover, due to the seemingly increasing frustration with the recent casting of the live-action version about the genius with a cold heart of steel. This disservice needs to be corrected immediately!
So what is the best way to do this? To be drawn in and intrigued by the various levels of complexity when it comes to his unwavering morality and extreme ways of solving problems, no matter whose side he is on. The entries below showcase his strength in both footwork and storytelling as he proved to be an excellent choice for both.
10 Marvel Zombies
Release date: 2005
No one can say that in times of crisis, Doctor Doom won't look after those under him. As long as it benefits his long-term goals. What better long-term goal than surviving an alien virus? In addition to his huge, supreme fortress, he created a magical force field around the area for protection.
It fails and he is eventually captured and eaten. Even then, by sheer will power, he holds the virus back long enough to make sure the survivors are safe. The virus engulfed him, but even then he could not be stopped and he smashed Galactus head-on with the rest of the zombie heroes. He just doesn't quit.
9 Secret wars
Release date: 1984
Pit heroes and villains against each other in no-holds-barred battles? Subscribe! A few of your favorites from various Marvel franchises unexpectedly come together and form alliances that don't usually happen. But the doctor sets another, more ambitious goal. Instead of fighting others for a chance at power, he takes it for himself.
After several failures, he succeeds in his mission and supreme power flows through his body. However, harnessing Potagonny's power proves too difficult for him as he loses control. After being injured by the heroes, Doom gains his temporary power back into the Stalker. Phenomenal cosmic powers, a slight command of time.
8 Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Release date: 2010
Do you know how much of a badass you have to be to make a significant impact after appearing in only three episodes? He shows up, beats up everyone, including the Hulk, and then lets everyone go, letting you know in so many words that they're just not worth his time.
The entire Avengers team couldn't touch him! Hell, Doom threw the Hulk into a brick wall without losing his breath. Doom tried to tell them that they weren't ready for any fight, but of course they didn't listen and had to lick their wounds. What were his goals? It's none of our business, he makes it clear in these three episodes.
7 Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Release date: 2006
If you were allowed to take the power of the Norse gods and claim it as your own, would you? Doom, being the logical opportunist that he is, allies himself with familiar names like Loki and Ultron to steal a few items of power, such as some kind of super serum, a mutant enhancer, and a magical power-giving tomb.
This power boost isn't enough, and Odin is now in his sights. As we know from the previous fights, Doom is nothing to play with, so with the Twilight Blade, he stole from another dimension and wiped Odin out of the picture, claiming the god's power for himself.
6 Fortnite
Release date: Official in 2020, previous release in 2017
Not exactly what you'd expect given Doctor Doom's many exploits, right? Collaborative events are nothing new in Fortnite (Eminem, anyone?), but the teams at Epic Games and Marvel have done a good job with this iteration of the opportunistic genius. One step into the Omniverse and he's instantly looking for whatever power he can take.
Here his powers are fully manifested. With dimensional travel, energy manipulation and of course all his technological abilities to boot. This is all before he reaches Pandora's Box, an object that holds all of humanity's horrors and hopes, which he instantly uses to defeat a host of enemies, villains, and heroes alike. No matter what dimension you find him in, Doom is almost godlike in most of them.
5 Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Suffering
Release date: 1989
Just as Secret Wars showcases Dr. Doom's wit, the story of Triumph and Suffering reveals and fully exposes his complexity and weakness. The Doctor's usual scheming is on full display as usual with a vow to sacrifice the soul of the newly minted Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange. Together, they fight through hell itself to free Doom's mother from the hands of the devil Mephisto.
Doom proves that he will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Normally, that's a superpower in itself, but this time it cost him the one person he loved most in the world, earning her loathing in the process. He has all this power at his fingertips and he still hasn't succeeded – it's scary to watch.
4 Fantastic Four number 5
Release date: 1961
What started out as a rant against Doctor Doom's ever-ambitious project turns into a beef that spans several decades with varying degrees of seriousness. Although there are many, one of Doc's most memorable displays of strength was his first encounter with the Fantastic Four, post-space.
In this iconic skirmish, Doom outsmarts a squad of quads by surrounding the entire Baxter building, trapping them and sending them to his castle to demand that they use his newly built time machine to steal from the Blackbeard pirate. Sure, the story is a little… off, but the way he controls his power over the Four without missing a beat shows his true power. If only he would get that tiger back!
3 Doctor Doom
Release date: 2019
It's one thing to own up to your own mistakes for what you've done or whatever plans for world domination have failed. But being accused of something you didn't do, like creating a black hole on the moon, is sure to shake you up. So what do you do when you've been framed and you're on the run from people like the infamous Taskmaster assassin?
Well, you beat them. It's that simple for Doc. He went toe to toe with someone who could easily mimic and beat anyone and Doom never broke a sweat. If that's not enough, or if things seem useless to him, he just pops out and teleports to another location. Power aside, the story's greatest strength is that Doctor Doom is seen as more than just a genius ruler suffering from delusions of grandeur.
2 The infamous iron man
Release date: 2016
After a second intense Civil War between factions of superheroes who disagree on the morality of cognitive justice, the weight of each lost during the war is felt. After Iron Man's death, Doctor Doom feels particularly remorseful and decides to take the mantle previously worn by Tony Stark.
Just the thought of Doom turning over a new page horrifies the villain community and immediately seeks his death. Do you know how strong you have to be to strike fear into the hearts of your former, temporary, accomplices in crime?
1 Secret wars
Release date: 2015
While everyone else in the multiverse is understandably worried about the universes colliding, Doom sees it as an opportunity to tap into the power of the Beyond in 2015's modernized retelling of the 1984 Secret Wars storyline. The stakes are much higher, as are Doom's pious ambitions.
The threat to the Doctor isn't necessarily that the malcontents want to overthrow him from his rule over the world of battle, although that exists, it's more about whether he's worthy of all the powers of creation and omnipotence. In order to balance those powers that “set” him above others, and which can still remain intact, his humanity becomes his greatest struggle. This is not a fight he can win by force alone.
