Fantastic four Writer (and Squirrel Girl writers and Dinosaur comics Author) Ryan North knows why Doctor Doom is the Cadillac of supervillains.
“He has all the powers of science, he has all the powers of magic. And he dresses like a robot in a cape,” he said via video chat. “Everything is 'peak'.” [laughs] And the most impressive thing of all is that he can speak in the third person and it reads coolly and not ridiculously.”
He had the opportunity to speak with North ahead of his first stint as lead writer on a major Marvel crossover event. A world in decline – a nine-issue story in which Doctor Doom has already conquered 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 wrote Marvel's Fantastic four since 2022, so he had already spent a lot of time thinking about Doctor Doom. With A world in decline The number 1 hits the market 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 they could nail Marvel Comics' nemesis.
“I'm not an actor,” North replied, “but it seems to me that Doom is probably the most difficult character to play in the entire Marvel Universe.” Because while he has this depth, he also has this breadth. He can send you back in time for Blackbeard's gold” – the very outlandish plan that Doom got the Fantastic Four involved in in his first appearance – “and he can also trade someone's soul in Hell and do terrible, terrible things.”
“That is a gigantic “The 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 and writing speeches about Doom for Doom, capture 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 summarize what Doom says on that one page in a few words. I can’t imagine how difficult it will be to work full time all year round or whatever it takes to make a film.”
But if he had to sum it all up? “I guess it comes down to what’s important, don’t forget its depth,” North concluded. “He can do anything.”
A world in decline No. 1 goes on sale on February 12th, kicking off the crossover event. The main series, written by North and drawn by RB Silva (Powers of X), will impact both existing series Storm And Fantastic fourand binding books like Thunderbolts: Doomstrike And Red Hulk. Read on for Marvel's four-page preview of issue #1:
