Image: Marvel Comics
Trying to learn more about Doctor Doom before Robert Downey Jr. plays him in the MCU? We've got you.
Marvel Studios dropped by San Diego Comic Con 2024 with some rather interesting reveals last weekend. The Russo brothers are returning to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, The Fantastic Four movie is now titled ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’, and, oh yes, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play Doctor Doom. Move over, Kang - the MCU has a new big bad now.
Live-action adaptations of Doctor Doom have historically failed to portray his origins and motivations accurately, to the point that even MCU fans might not understand why he’s considered to be one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. Fortunately, many Marvel video games have managed to bring Victor von Doom to life in a much more appealing way.
If you want the get the lowdown on the MCU’s upcoming big bad, here are all the videogames you should check out before Avengers: Doomsday comes out:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is well worth playing for any Marvel fan, as it brings together a truly staggering number of playable heroes and villains to bulk up its playable roster. While the main game centers around a world-ending threat posed by Thanos, the Black Order expansion focuses on Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four. After Thanos’ disappearance, Doctor Doom exiles the planets’ heroes to the Negative Zone while he uses the Soul Stone to take over the world.
Inside the Negative Zone, the heroes come across the Fantastic Four, and together the group escapes back to reality. Ultimately, they discover that Doctor Doom’s efforts to ascend reality and become a God Emperor were meant to protect the universe against a cataclysmic future threat. This expansion serves as a solid introduction to Doom as a character. He constantly does the wrong thing for the right reasons, carving a straight path to his goals by any means necessary. Newcomers will also learn about his close ties to the Fantastic Four, a group he constantly has to contend with to bring his plans to fruition.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Lego Marvel Super Heroes is not only one of the best co-op experiences you can have in gaming if you’re a Marvel fan, but it also features Doctor Doom as one of its main antagonists. Being a Lego game, one has to take its comic book accuracy with a grain of salt - the entire game pokes fun at iconic Marvel characters including Doom himself, whose evil scheme to conquer the Earth involves a device called ‘the Doom Ray of Doom’.
Lego games are always a fun time, and this one allows you to go up against Doom to save the planet with tons of other Marvel heroes in tow.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a standalone updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, so both games work here. If you’re looking for a solid Marvel-themed fighting game, it doesn’t get much better than the celebrated Marvel vs. Capcom franchise. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has an impressive playable roster that translates its heroes’ power sets into fighting kits pretty faithfully, Doctor Doom included.
In this game, Doom teams up with Resident Evil baddie Albert Wesker to form a group of villains and conquer the Marvel and Capcom universes together. If you want to learn more about Doom’s abilities and combat prowess, why not take him for a spin?
Marvel Rivals
The entire premise of Marvel Rivals centers around Doctor Doom. This upcoming hero shooter throws heroes and villains from the larger Marvel multiverse together, after a battle between Doctor Doom and his futuristic 2099 counterpart causes a merging of timelines. The event is dubbed the ‘Timestream Entanglement’, resulting in the creation of all-new worlds both versions of Doom are intent on conquering.
We’ll likely learn more about Doctor Doom’s true role in Marvel Rivals when it launches, but this is also a good opportunity to try out a bunch of fan favourite Marvel characters within the shooter format. The game is currently in closed beta, with no firm release date set.
Honorable mention: Marvel’s Midnight Suns
This one comes with a caveat. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a pretty great tactical RPG developed by XCOM maker Firaxis Games, focusing on the supernatural side of Marvel Comics. Players get to customise their own character, an offspring of Lilith named ‘the Hunter’, and choose their own power sets. The game’s story involves the return of the supervillain Lilith, and the Midnight Suns' plot to resurrect the Hunter in the hopes of defeating her.
While most of this game has nothing to do with Doctor Doom, its ending teases a sequel centered around the villain. After our heroes defeat Lilith, Doctor Doom appears to claim the Darkhold for himself while calling its previous users ‘amateurs’. While we would love to play a Midnight Suns sequel starring Doctor Doom, the commercial underperformance of this game suggests that we’re never going to get it, and that’s a shame.
