Very few comic book super-villains have achieved the same iconic status as Marvel’s to have killed Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme.
He’s a character with a rich and varied history, and impressive pedigree. In Spider-Man’s own words, Doctor Victor von Doom has been a doctor, a man, and a despotic would-be world conqueror. To call him an influential character would certainly be accurate, but a somewhat underwhelming term, especially considering he may well have been the inspiration for Star Wars’ Darth Vader. One may wonder, what destiny ultimately awaits the megalomaniacal polymath, known throughout the Marvel Universe for his cruel arrogance? Sometime in the far future, near the end of the world, Doctor Doom will transcend the confines of Earthly existence and assume a form far grander and more cosmic in scale: a planet.
In the Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine limited series by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert, the titular pair of Avengers get lost in the timestream and eventually wind up in the distant future, facing the end of the world. In issue #2, readers are introduced to a post-human world on the edge of total collapse. Their hopes of ever returning home are tied to the Cosmic Cube: a device as powerful as it is indecipherable, even to a mind as sharp as Peter Parker’s. What Parker needs more than anything is time, but time is almost up; a threat from beyond the stars is on its way to finish off the Earth once and for all: a God-Moon once known as Doctor Doom.
But how did this happen? According to Spider-Man, an old and near death Doctor Doom successfully transplanted his consciousness into Ego the Living Planet. Thus, Doom the Living Planet was born, but the process brought about the end of humanity on Earth. The implication that Doom will possess - or already has - the skill and power to accomplish such an undertaking is sobering to say the least. No one in the Marvel Comics Universe would doubt his credibility as a threat, but to consider that one day the means will be at his disposal to achieve immortality at the expense of all human life is sobering. Likewise, the sheer power Doom the Living Planet achieves is staggering - in fact, it takes a bullet containing the Phoenix Force to destroy him in this form. Doctor Doom has always claimed to be most concerned with the people of Latveria, arguing that his rule is what's truly best for humanity, so the knowledge that ultimately he would choose such a selfish route betrays the lie behind the Marvel villain's feigned nobility.
The irony that Doctor Doom’s massive sense of self-importance and inflated pride would lead him to take over an entire sentient planet named Ego isn’t exactly subtle. It is a fate fitting a man who never once questioned his supremacy over others or his right to rule. Moreover, Doom the Living Planet’s return in the pages of Avengers #38, by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness, proves that his existence is more than just a byproduct of a fractured timeline: it’s an event that reoccurs as the endgame of Doctor Doom's lust for power and legacy. For all his bluster, it turns out that in Marvel's future, Doctor Doom is willing to trade his very humanity for longevity and power.
