Doctor Doom #10 Final issue - "Bedford Falls" SPOILERS

[JudicatorPrime]

Actually I didn't know that you had to have a strong will to wield the Ultimate Nullifier.

Maybe the canon has changed over the years, but my recollection is that the person wielding the UN had to have a strong will or risk being destroyed, too.

And I'm not saying that Doom doesn't at times show mental fortitude. I'm saying as of the writing of this story he was clearly not at his peak. Quite the opposite. Even he himself admits to his counterpart just before killing him that he was mentally exhausted. I found it odd that in that state he would use the Nullifier, instead of, say, the Cosmic Cube, which was also in the display case and is powerful enough to accomplish the same end with zero risk to Doom.

[Iron Maiden]

Maybe the canon has changed over the years, but my recollection is that the person wielding the UN had to have a strong will or risk being destroyed, too.

And I'm not saying that Doom doesn't at times show mental fortitude. I'm saying as of the writing of this story he was clearly not at his peak. Quite the opposite. Even he himself admits to his counterpart just before killing him that he was mentally exhausted. I found it odd that in that state he would use the Nullifier, instead of, say, the Cosmic Cube, which was also in the display case and is powerful enough to accomplish the same end with zero risk to Doom.

Yeah, I agree with that. He tried to obtain the Cosmic Cube before in an old Sub-Mariner story but it was becoming unstable or something. It would consume anyone that came near it. It is like rubbing the genie's lamp though. It grants wishes. I don't think the Ultimate Nullifier has been shown to do that.

[JudicatorPrime]

I think being insulted by a better version of himself was too much. But I do agree that he took things too far by wiping out his universe. This seemed odd choice by Cantwell considering he just gave an interview where he stated that genocide would be beyond the pale for Doom:

Doom is not a psychopath. He is not a relentless killer. He has a heart and soul, albeit ones that are warped. Doom has the ability to love others. I think he has a really hard time allowing himself to be loved. That makes a character that can connect with a lot of people, but then also refuse connection or sever connections because of his plethora of hang-ups.

This may be wrong but I think there are limits to Doom's evil. I don't believe Doom would go off and commit genocide.

This kind of statement makes some of us question why have Doom wipe out an entire universe. That and the early ending for the series makes me wonder. He has said he had written most of it some time ago and then the pandemic stopped production. For some odd reason, this series was one of the last to come back (and some haven't come back at all) Were there changes mandated? I guess we'll just have to speculate.

I don't mean to nitpick, but there were a couple of logical gaps in the writing that didn't quite make sense to me. The biggest one is "Good" Doom's approach to Victor. It's like he didn't know himself at all. I don't know if there is an alternate universe version of myself, but if there is, and should I meet him, I know damn well not to leave him unattended near a plate of freshly baked peach cobbler, if I don't want him to eat it. Every version of myself across all realities is chomping down on that cobbler, especially if I'm drained and just want to sit back and relax with a little comfort snack. "Know thyself" applies in any reality.

Yet somehow we have "good" Doom mindlessly pushing all of bad Doom's buttons, including piling on a heavy dose of condescension veiled as constructive criticism. Surely "good" Doom must know that Victor gets enough of that from Reed. Honestly, I was hoping Blue Marvel would have opened a can of antimatter "stfu" on "good" Doom at that point. Any idiot could see that bad Doom was about to lose it.

I'm not surprised that Victor killed "good" Doom. I figured that he was going to play a part in his demise. But to destroy the entire universe?

I suspect many of Doom's fans will be thrilled at this development. It will only make their twisted little hearts love him more. But to me this lowers Doom considerably in the pantheon of great villains and noble bastards. At this point, he's little more than a rabid dog that needs to be put down. Nothing will happen to him, because...Marvel. But it should. And since Blue Marvel doesn't need to sleep or eat, and he has nothing but spare time on his hands, Doom should count his blessings that he doesn't wake up one morning to find himself and the entire land mass of Latveria tossed into the sun. (And yes, Blue Marvel could easily do that -- well, as long as Cantwell isn't writing it. )

[Tendrin]

A terrible ending to what was an otherwise excellent comic. Superior Spider-man flashback.

[Iron Maiden]

A terrible ending to what was an otherwise excellent comic. Superior Spider-man flashback.

I have to agree. I could understand if he killed his other self...he was rubbing it in a bit But to wipe out an entire universe is way over the top. And then to order the death of Fruzina's father? I just have to go back to that interview quote I posted. Cantwell is clearly saying he doesn't think Doom would be capable of committing genocide. Going back to the very first issue, Doom was horrified at what happened to the Antlion. Sure, part of it was because he wanted to save his own skin and knew there would be consequences. But he felt it was necessary for him to surrender and not put up a fight. He wanted it known that he had no part in that.

My suspicion is that it was editorially "requested" to have him revert by doing something extreme like this. Tom B. is not adverse to wanting him stay evil...look at Unthinkable. I don't want Doom to become the pope or something. I just think he is more interesting and a more viable character if there are more than a few shades of grey. Compare this to Magneto's conversion....he was no better than Doom at the point. In fact Doom had already become more of an anti-hero in some writer's stories, like Gerry Conway or Bill Mantlo. And there were some Marvel stories done back that weren't always with the program in regards to Magneto's change. I just think maybe someone in the chain command said OK, times up. Let's have a really evil Doom. I guess they figure 5 years, going back to the end of SW, was time enough.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I don't want Doom to become the pope or something.

Well Popes have ordered massacres and in the case of the Albigensian Crusade, an actual genocide.

I just think he is more interesting and a more viable character if there are more than a few shades of grey. Compare this to Magneto's conversion....he was no better than Doom at the point. In fact Doom had already become more of an anti-hero in some writer's stories, like Gerry Conway or Bill Mantlo. And there were some Marvel stories done back that weren't always with the program in regards to Magneto's change. I just think maybe someone in the chain command said OK, times up. Let's have a really evil Doom. I guess they figure 5 years, going back to the end of SW, was time enough.

Which is odd because the more grey and noble anti-heroic Doom is clearly more popular and viable as witness the success of Hickman's runs and Secret Wars 2015 and so on...than Unthinkable.

[Iron Maiden]

Exactly..... I guess will never know why but perhaps I am giving Cantwell too much credit. Maybe he planned it this way all along but I keep going back to that interview. Then of course we may be interpreting things wrong? Did the Ultimate Nullifier just wipe things out of existence as if they never were? I don't think we have a lot of examples of the Ultimate Nullifier being used. I mentioned the Fantastic Four Abraxas story and that effect was more passive than this. I don't know if it just fulfills wishes like the Cosmic Cube.

[lordozone]

The more I think about it, the more I'm disappointed, especially when you see the level of this arc since the beginning, ending on that note, turning Doom into pure villain, making him totally irredeemable, it not only goes against the thesis developed in this run but also makes him very difficult for another author to make Doom complex. He's worse than Red Skull now, he has no excuse. It's going to end up like Thanos, turning him into a one-note villain... I still love what Cantwell did for Doom, but he totally botched his final. And that's going to change the character for years to come.

[JudicatorPrime]

Did the Ultimate Nullifier just wipe things out of existence as if they never were?

If the wielder is mentally powerful enough, the Ultimate Nullifier can destroy anything that it's aimed at, or restore it. It can also remove entire timelines from alpha to omega, if the wielder wishes.

But in this case, I think it's a safe bet that Victor used the Nullifier to annihilate the entire "Good Mirror" Universe (GMU), not merely de-growing it or rolling the multiverse back as if that limb never existed. Had Victor dealt wth the GMU in that fashion, "good" Doom would not have been around to resolve the crisis of the wormhole that threatened 616 Earth. Victor and Adam likely would have returned to the main universe to find the Earth destroyed along with a good chunk of the universe. I'm not sure how much life support Victor has in his armor, but I suspect there isn't a magical spell in his arsenal that permits him to survive indefinitely in space. Not a good way to go.

Plus, rolling back the universe instead of destroying it and killing all of those living souls cheats Death of her prize. That wouldn't satisfy Cantwell at all.

[PeterParked]

Classic case of a series cut short and the writer forced to accelerate his endgame.

[Iron Maiden]

Damn this pandemic! the series was off the grid for 6 months....I think that gave them time to rethink the series ending and cut it short.

[JudicatorPrime]

Doom's story will continue on, so chin up. I imagine someone will come along to either right the record or reframe Victor in a different light. As villains go, that's pretty much the circle of life, isn't it?

[Iron Maiden]

This is true but I don't want to see him put all the way back in that villain box again. Looks like the character will be on furlough for a while. Haven't seen much in the solicits for next year.

[JudicatorPrime]

This is true but I don't want to see him put all the way back in that villain box again. Looks like the character will be on furlough for a while. Haven't seen much in the solicits for next year.

Doom will be in FF 25. Isn't he also in the Avengers Phoenix event? And I imagine he'll also be in the MCU again, so it's just a matter of time before he turns up in future issues of a title somewhere to help drum up support for whatever movie they release. Even if he only appears as classic villain Doom, that's still better than whatever that was in the final issue of Cantwell's series.

[CitizenXXX]

FF 25 is out now (two months ago), he's partnered with Reed and nothing in this comic tells us about the aftermath of Doctor Doom 10
Most likely DD 10 occurs after FF 25, otherwise it cannot be explained