The Most Important Villain The MCU Needs To Introduce
The MCU doesn't have a hero problem. The MCU has a massive villain problem — and we're hardly the first to point this out. Having one of the best villains in comic book movie history — or cinema for that fact — doesn't correct all the meh ones that came before and after. So before anyone starts shouting "Um, Thanos," let's look at this objectively. On the side of great MCU villains, we have the Mad Titan, Loki, Vulture, and Killmonger. On the side of the bad, there's Malekith, Laufey, Red Skull, Aldrich Killian, Whiplash, Dormammu, Taskmaster, Ronan, Sonny Burch, Dreykov, Yellowjacket, Obadiah Stane, Ultron, and Kaecilius.
First off, look at the talent in this villain pool. This is not a casting issue, this is a writing issue. We understand that not every baddie that's introduced in the MCU can have a multi-movie arc — it's simply not possible. But if we're looking at one-offs, the story has to be top-notch from beginning to end. We need to know the why. We need to feel what they feel. Look at our top four villains — you felt for them at some point. You might have found yourself wondering if they were right — and two of them were just around for one flick. It's possible. It can be done. We've seen it done.
We need our next great MCU villain, and we need them bad. It looks like Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors) might be just that. If his story comes to a close after "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," that would be one of the biggest mistakes ever made at Marvel Studios. But since we know he's coming, let's dive into a villain that's not yet confirmed for an MCU story, but someone who desperately needs to be introduced and who needs serious justice.
Doctor Doom's time has come
There are countless villains we could have chosen from, but no one deserves their time to shine more in the MCU as Doctor Doom. The character first debuted on Marvel Comics pages in 1961 in "Fantastic Four #5," and he is still very much active. That's a whopping 60 years of lore to pull from, meaning he's the perfect candidate for a multi-film arc. Marvel legend Stan Lee singled Doom out as his favorite supervillain ever (via Cat Country), while Jack Kirby also labeled him "the ultimate villain." If that's not the biggest endorsement in the world, we don't know what is.
We need our next big threat. We need someone who has a central team they despise, while also battling plenty of other heroes along the way. The Fantastic Four are Doom's greatest adversaries, and with the superheroes due to get their own film in the MCU somewhere in the near future, it's time to introduce the villain. However, this has to be meticulously planned. Doctor Doom can't be thrown in our face whim bam boom and be gone by the end credits. He needs to hover. He needs to scare not just the Fantastic Four, but us as movie fans. He may not even need to be in the first film we get from the foursome, but maybe in an end credit scene to let us know this is a big bad we need to be watching out for. This shouldn't be an issue because Doctor Doom has a plethora of foes, and he has gone toe-to-toe with the Avengers, Spider-Man, and Luke Cage, to name a few. Long before Thanos threatened seemingly every hero we've come to love, Doom did it first.
Doctor Doom deserves justice
Two Victor Von Dooms have made it to the big screen (there was a third but that movie was never officially released). The first was portrayed by Julian McMahon in "Fantastic Four" in 2005. Reflecting back on that film now brings harsher criticisms, as the superhero movie landscape is dramatically different than it was in the early aughts. But even at that time, "Fantastic Four" is still a laughable bomb. With a 28% critic score and 45% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's safe to say the superhero team and villain weren't displayed to their full potential. McMahon was an odd casting choice, but his storyline was even more confusing.
2005's "Fantastic Four" primarily focused on the superhero team, and basically spent 75% of the film explaining everyone's powers and the dangers they could bring. Doctor Doom was given no justice whatsoever, and people not familiar with the comic books were done a disservice because they would never know how truly menacing this guy is. His costume didn't do him any favors either. The Spirit Halloween get-up was about as threatening as a Chick Fil-A employee. No offense to McMahon, but he doesn't have the eye-acting ability of say, Robert Pattinson, and his Doom was as drab as his costume.
We're not sure we even have to dive into the total dumpster fire that was 2015's "Fantastic Four." It's tied with "Catwoman" as the fifth-worst superhero film ever made according to Rotten Tomatoes with an abysmal 9% rating. Despite having a pretty great cast, the movie does nothing but try and set up future films that thankfully will not be coming. This film's Doctor Doom (Toby Kebbell) is jaw-dropping in the worst way. From his atrocious costume design to his weird CGI'ed face, this is somehow an even worse depiction of the legendary villain than his predecessor. Neither 20th Century Doom has anything in common with the comic book version. He is a genius mad scientist with incredible sorcerer abilities, and it's not even hinted at.
Doctor Doom deserves justice. Moviegoers need to meet the real villain and not his caricature.
Doctor Doom has the material and the empathetic factor
There is plenty to go off of when it comes to Doctor Doom's history. As we mentioned earlier, he has decades' worth of material that can be pulled from, and he also has some interesting arcs that deviate from a normal villain's storyline. First off, Victor Von Doom is Romani and Marvel Studios has the opportunity to cast an actor who is, in fact, Romani and not just another white guy. While his home country Latveria is fictitious, his ethnicity is not, and his connection to Tibetan monks (who helped forge his armor) is another way the MCU can increase its diversity.
Doom isn't just a villain, he's a supervillain. The man created a new planet called Battleworld by stealing powers from the Beyonders in the "Secret Wars" storyline. When the multiverse was destroyed, he pieced together the remaining fragments of alternate Earths, becoming somewhat of a hero. This is why Doctor Doom is so compelling — he'll have you cheering for him. He'll have you agreeing with him at times, the same way many of us did watching Thanos, Killmonger, and Magneto. While he's known for being a brutal dictator at times, his reign of power over Latveria is also a beautiful time of peace. He might just be the savior everyone needs. Spoiler alert: he's not, but that's what makes him a great supervillain. The possibilities are endless here and Victor Von Doom can be around for as long as the powers-that-be at Marvel Studios will let him.
So when it comes to the villain we have to see in the MCU, it's Doctor Doom across the board. He said it himself in "New Avengers Vol 3" #24— "Doom is no man's second choice." Agree, sir. Hard agree.