10 Things You Need To Know About Doctor Doom Before Avengers: Doomsday

Heads up, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans — "Avengers: Doomsday" is heading to theaters this year, which means you will soon make the acquaintance of one Victor von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.). Want to know more about Doctor Doom's long history in Marvel Comics? Click the video above and learn 10 crucial things about the bad doc's existence before racing to your local cineplex.

One of the most important factoids to absorb is that Doctor Doom and Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) totally hate each other. While there's no telling what, if any, changes might be made to their relationship for the MCU, the pair's lives in the comics are heavily intertwined after years of fighting. First encountering each other as academic rivals in college, what starts as a long, semi-friendly competition culminates in rancor when Richards warns Doom that the calculations he's crafted for a rocket ship he's been tinkering with are incorrect. Doom ignores Richards, the spacecraft explodes in his face, and Doom is injured. He blames Richards for the incident, sparking a bitter conflict that causes Latveria's favorite son to become obsessed with destroying the Fantastic Four.

Doom's conflict with Reed aside, he never actually graduates college after his little accident. Yep, the "Doctor" in "Doctor Doom" is purely honorary — a mantle he takes on of his own volition after running off to Tibet to become a sorcerer. He's encouraged in his self-aggrandizement by the group of monks who take him in and accept him as their leader. They're the ones who give him his distinctive iron mask — and become Doom's first supplicants, paving his path toward life as a future dictator.

Doctor Doom has a rich history in the comics. He's been everything from a gray-hatted hero to a tragic villain during his time as a central Marvel character. But it's currently up in the air how much of his backstory will end up being changed for the MCU, or even what version of Doom the movies will use. We know that Robert Downey Jr. has created his own backstory for Doom, but there's no word as to what that might mean for him. Marvel Studios is staying typically tight-lipped on what the character will do in "Doomsday," so it's impossible to know as of now what changes might come.

Obviously, Disney will try to take advantage of Downey's appearance to make some waves and captivate audiences, but how much of the infamously-scarred character's face will fans get to see? While it's possible they might avoid answering this big question until "Avengers: Secret Wars," surely audiences will eventually demand a glimpse of his features. 

Luckily, the MCU can always lean on actual comic book continuity if they want fans to see more of Downey's mug instead of covering him in special effects make-up. In at least one comic book storyline, Doctor Doom's face is only lightly scarred before he puts it under his mask, his vanity causing him to believe that his appearance has been utterly ruined. But no matter how disfigured his face might be, Doom is a force to be reckoned with. Want to know more before seeing "Avengers: Doomsday"? Watch the video above for a crash course in the doctor's over-the-top malevolence.