Contains spoilers for The Avengers #19!Doctor Doomis more powerful than ever, and as a prelude to his upcoming takeover of Earth as Emperor Doom, he’s offered theAvengersa chance to work for him in new Doom costumes. Luckily, the Avengers are far more principled than that - not that Doom’s ever truly on the level when he offers a gift.
InThe Avengers#19 by Jed MacKay, Farid Karami, Federico Blee, and Cory Petit, Doctor Doom showsthe Avengersa vision of what they could be under his rule,reshaped in new Doom-based green costumes for iconic characterslike Iron Man, Storm, Captain Marvel, and more.
In the eventBlood Huntby MacKay, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, and Petit, Doom was given the power of the sorcerer supreme by Doctor Strange, who believed that Victor would return it after saving the world from the event’s vampire threat. However, Doom took a more liberal view of “saving the world” and has decided to hold onto the power until he reshapes the world in his image, which includesoffering the Avengers his patronage and the power to do whatever they please.
Doctor Doom Reinvents the Avengers in His Image, Giving Them Brand-New Costumes
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Doom’s vision of the Avengers remakes the heroes as all-conquering interventionists. Iron Man destroys the Earth’s supply of weaponry, Vision massacres every variation of Ultron, Captain America becomes the Captain of the whole world, Captain Marvel becomes Earth’s galactic representative, Scarlet Witch masters her powers, and Storm finally carves out a secure future for mutants. More than just Doom-based costumes, this is what the team would look like if they still had their regular personalities combined with Doom’s ego and twisted “morality.” Of course,the Avengers decline Doom’s offer, which he knew they always would.
Soon enough, a Doom-based team of Avengers might not be so imaginary.
Doom’s offer is completely bogus anyway. As Vision surmises at the end ofAvengers#19,Doom didn’t really expect the Avengers to take him up on his deal. Instead, Doom is comparing himself against what he sees as the Avengers’ complacency and using their refusal to cooperate as pretense to invade the world. This series of events is all a prelude to the upcoming"One World Under Doom" event, in which Doom is going to claim the whole world as an extension of Latveria. Soon enough, a Doom-based team of Avengers might not be so imaginary.
Doctor Doom Reinforces the Avengers' Existing Doubts About Their Purpose
Can the Team Overcome the Doubts Doom Sows?
Doom approaching the Avengers is far more than just an excuse to give them new costumes, however; it’s also a crucial examination of the team’s purpose. ThisAvengersrun has been constantly beset byquestions about the Avengers' responsibilities and mandate. In the aftermath ofBlood Hunt,Captain Marvel, the team leader, has been plagued with doubts by what she sees as the team’s inability to properly respond to threats. Doom’s visit only rubs this supposed failure in the Avengers’ faces, but it also illustrates why the team shouldn’t go to such extremes.
“Doom Would Speak With You”: Doctor Doom’s Takeover of the Marvel Universe Begins with the Avengers
The latest issue of Marvel’s Avengers comic finds Earth’s Mightiest Heroes taking on Doctor Doom as he begins to totally dominate the Marvel Universe.
What Doom is offering the Avengers is the dream of an easy out, but the team knows that it’s also the wrong choice. Beyond working with a supervillain, what Doom’s careful not to mention is the cost of making this imaginary world a reality. The question remains as to who would have to suffer for this better world. It doesn’t matter to Doom, but it does to the Avengers, and that’s the biggest difference between the two. Even if Doom’s vision for theAvengerslooks utopian, and even if their new costumes are spiffy, it’s not worth subjugating the world inDoctor Doom’sname to achieve it.
