The fantastic four writer (and Squirrel Girl writer, and dinosaur comics writer) Ryan North knows why Doctor Doom is the Cadillac of supervillains.
“It has all the powers of science, it has all the powers of magic. And he dresses like a robot with a cape,” he told Polygon over video chat. “Everything is 'peak'. [laughs] And, most impressive of all, he can speak in the third person and make it read cool and not ridiculous.”
Polygon had the chance to speak with North ahead of his first stint as head writer on a major Marvel crossover event. A world under perdition — a nine-issue story in which Doctor Doom has already taken over the world on the first page, and it's up to the Avengers and the Fantastic Four to figure out how he did it and how to undo it.
North has written Marvel's The fantastic four since 2022, so he had already spent much of his time thinking about Doctor Doom. With A world under perdition #1 hits stores next month, that percentage has only increased. So naturally, we asked him if he had any advice for the people behind Doctor Doom's upcoming entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (writers, directors and actor Robert Downey, Jr.) on how to catch Marvel Comics' quintessential enemy.
“I'm not an actor,” North responded, “but I find Doom to be probably the most difficult character to play in the entire Marvel universe. Because he has this depth, but also this breadth. He can send you back in time for Blackbeard's gold” (the very outlandish scheme in which Doom trapped the Fantastic Four in his first appearance) “and he can also exchange someone's soul in hell and do horrible, horrible things.”
“That is a enormous range for a character,” North continued, “especially for an actor in a one- or two-hour movie […] I mean, I've spent the last few years thinking about Doom, writing speeches for Doom, capturing that voice. And I had the advantage that my output was 20 pages a month, and that gives me time to take long walks and try to nail down what Doom says on this page in a few words. “I can't imagine the challenge of trying to dedicate all year to that, or whatever it takes, to make a movie.”
But if I had to sum it all up? “I guess it all comes down to it, don't forget the depth,” North concluded. “He can do anything.”
A world under perdition Issue #1 will hit stores on February 12, kicking off the crossover event. The main series, written by North and drawn by RB Silva (Powers of X), will be extended to both existing series as Storm and The fantastic fourand related books such as Lightning: Fatal blow and red hulk. Read on for Marvel's four-page trailer for issue #1: