The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as iconic Marvel villain Doctor Victor Von Doom found out the hard way near the end of the second issue of his new comic series. The armor-clad mastermind has faced down superheroes, supervillains and cosmic entities, but in Doctor Doom #2 by Christopher Cantwell and Salvador Larroca, Doom finds out that the court of public opinion is a far more insidious and deadly adversary.
Doom, the rule of Latveria, voiced his strong opposition to a bizarre new plan to create a black hole on the moon to combat climate change. Soon after, a missile of Latverian origin targets the base of operations for the Black Hole on the Moon plan, killing thousands. Doom is blamed directly for the catastrophe and while on the run, aided by supervillain allies, he’s shot in the head by a single bullet discharged from the gun of master assassin Taskmaster.
This development comes on the heels of a vision shown to Doom of a future where he ruled over a peaceful Earth. So, will that future never come to be now that he’s passed beyond the veil? Well, for most other characters, such an ending would be pretty final. But this is Doctor Doom, who has magical powers that rival the Sorcerer Supreme, and he’s a scientific genius. Already in the past, he’s traveled beyond the physical realm, to hell itself and fought and won against immensely powerful demonic entities like Mephistopheles.
While Doom may be dead, his spirit’s in no mood to give up, which is why the upcoming third installment in the comic book series teases a fresh standoff between the malevolent Doctor and Mephisto, Lord of Hell, within hell itself. Only time will tell how Doctor Doom will manage to return to the mortal world to clear his name and reclaim his destiny, though.
