There are countless characters in the endless expanse of Marvel's Comic universe, some of which have been perfectly translated to screen, but others aren't so lucky. Some. in fact, make it to screen multiple times in ways that infuriate fans and make newcomers wonder just what the appeal was in the first place. One such character is Doctor Doom, the iconic supervillain and arch-rival of the Fantastic Four.
The Fantastic Four movies are all pretty bad, for a fascinating variety of reasons, but each of the four Fantastic Four films have featured a differently butchered version of Victor Von Doom. Roger Corman's unreleased 90s film, the two early 2000s flops, and Josh Trank's tragic disaster each misuse the character in unique ways that an upcoming take on the character could learn from.
Victor Von Doom was introduced in a Fantastic Four comic in 1962, but was not granted a full backstory until two years later. He was designed by Jack Kirby and remains the Fantastic Four's most iconic villain. He has also faced off against heroes like Black Panther, The Punisher, and Spider-Man. The character is almost never glimpsed outside his steel armor, devised to resemble the skeletal face of death itself. There are a few substantial details of the character that have been subject to change between writers, but his general biography is largely set. Despite the character's lack of a proper origin story, one might argue the writers overcompensated by giving him an enormous wealth of background and almost too much expertise.
Doctor Doom was born the son of a witch and a small village doctor. His mother died in a Mephisto-related incident and his father died fleeing violence and blame for an accident that was not his fault. Doom was left orphaned but decided to use his highly advanced intelligence to arm his people against encroaching oppression. His upbringing and natural genius allowed him to combine science and sorcery and create advanced tools, weapons, and of course, his signature armor. He was scouted by an American university, where he met and formed a distinct hatred for Reed Richards. Finally, he returned to his home country of Latveria and took it over. From his position of power, wielding mystic arts and scientific marvels to destroy Richards, seize resources for his people and control the future of humanity became Doom's standard operating procedure.
The first cinematic appearance of Doctor Doom was never officially released but circulated somewhat widely in the form of bootleg copies. Roger Corman's 1994 film The Fantastic Four, was a low-budget attempt at the material created so the executive producer Bernd Eichinger could keep the rights. So the film was made for around $1 million and shot in less than one month. This was in an era long before the popularity of Marvel Comic-based films, making the prospects of the film a long shot. The film is bad, but probably the best Fantastic Four film, and probably the best translation of Doctor Doom.
Doom is introduced as a friend of Richard's, working with him on the science experiment which grants the Four their powers. Doom is presumed dead after the experiment but is actually disfigured, forcing him to permanently affix his iconic mask. This film actually includes more of the character's unique aspects than any of the other adaptations. The Fantastic Four fight Doom in his home country of Latveria, he uses a variety of gadgets and he is a powerful dictator. The biggest weakness of his portrayal in this adaptation is the same problem dragging down the rest of the film; simple lack of time and money. Doom struggles to carry the gravitas he should command when he gets around 10 minutes of screentime and dies in his first appearance. Doom should be a tremendous threat, not a one-off villain of the week.
The rights-holding scheme that sort of resulted in the 1994 film actually worked, Eichinger produced the next two Fantastic Four films. The 2005 Fantastic Four is a rather similar storyline to the 1994 film, essentially still an origin story for the team featuring Doom as the primary villain. Elements are changed around, most of them weak deviations from the source material. 2005's Doom is a CEO rather than a despot and, instead of a mastery of science and magic, his powers come in the same cosmic event that empowers the Four. His body begins to produce bio-organic metal and he controls electricity, neither of which are particular to the source. More importantly, these changes aren't just different, they're worse. Doom is a unique character; boiling him down to a boring archetype to simplify him ruins the appeal.
The 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, oddly puts aspects of Doom's characters back into place. Doom spends much of this film in Latveria, making diplomatic arrangements with the US military to defeat the Silver Surfer. Doom actually gains the Power Cosmic from the Surfer, making him effectively unstoppable for a moment. This movie is an absolute mess, but its failure to adapt Doom comes from his shifting roles in the narrative. He hires the Four at one point, then betrays them, retakes his role as main antagonist, and still is the least important character in the film. Putting Doctor Doom in the film, granting him the Power Cosmic, then focusing heavily on every other aspect of the film is a massive missed opportunity.
Finally, 2015's Fantastic Four, a complete disaster. Doom is unrecognizable in this film, nothing about his comics source makes the transition and the character should have been renamed. This was one of the most heavily derided aspects of the film. Doom is a scientist in training who, once again, is presumed dead after joining the Four on the quest that unlocks their powers. Doom is then absent for a while, stuck in the film's alternate dimension. He is brought back to Earth, looking mostly like a glowing unmasked Terminator, where he then kills several scientists and returns immediately. The Fantastic Four follow him in and kill him in a matter of moments. This is the perfect lesson on what not to do with this character, removing every aspect that makes him special, putting no focus on the character, and destroying him instantly.
Doctor Doom is a fantastic character who demands attention and owns every story he appears in. The previous Fantastic Four films give a perfect road map of what to avoid when adapting the ultimate nemesis of Marvel's first family.