Doctor Doom's Strangest Team-Ups

As the leader of Latveria, a master of the mystic arts, and one of the sharpest minds in the Marvel Universe, Doctor Doom stands alone; however, he still teams up with other villains and heroes from time to time. When Doom sees a reason to grace others with his presence, he always proves himself to be an invaluable ally before resuming his status as one of Marvel's most dangerous beings.  

Now, let's take a look back at some of Doctor Doom's closest alliances—from his unlikely team-ups with some of Marvel's greatest heroes to his strangest schemes with other villains—in the wake of his alliance with an Avenger in BLOOD HUNT (2024) by Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, and VC's Cory Petit.

NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER

Namor the Sub-Mariner is one of the only people in the Marvel Universe who Doctor Doom has called a friend. Both monarchs have a long and complex history with the Fantastic Four, and they've worked together multiple times since teaming up as the Diabolical Duo in FANTASTIC FOUR (1962) #6 by Stan Lee and JJack Kirby. 

By the time of Roy Thomas and John Buscema's GIANT-SIZE SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP (1974) #1, Doom and the Sub-Mariner had formed a lasting partnership to battle Namor's undersea enemies and heroes like the Fantastic Four and the Shroud. Although they fought bitterly on several occasions, Doom gave aid to Namor and the Atlanteans, and they also served together in Norman Osborn's Cabal.

DOCTOR STRANGE: TRIUMPH & TORMENT

As two of the Marvel Universe's most powerful magic users, Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom have put aside their differences to help each other tackle mind-bending problems on several occasions. In one of their most famous team-ups, Doctor Strange agreed to help Doctor Doom save his mother's soul from Mephisto in DOCTOR STRANGE & DOCTOR DOOM: TRIUMPH AND TORMENT (1989) #1 by Roger Stern and Mike Mignola. 

In an epic tale highlighting Doom's cunning and mystical prowess, Doom and Strange forged a mutual respect for one another as they wrestled Cynthia Von Doom's soul away from Mephisto. Since this incident, the two have teamed up a few more times, most notably to save a tiny sliver of the Multiverse from obliteration in SECRET WARS (2015).

LUKE CAGE

Early in his career as Power Man, Luke Cage teamed up with Doctor Doom during an infamous incident in HERO FOR HIRE (1972) #9 by Steve Englehart and George Tuska. When a group of robots led by the alien Faceless One tried to take over Latveria, one of Doom's robotic Doombot impersonators hired Cage to stop the robots from stealing sensitive information. When the Doombot fled before paying Cage, the Hero for Hire traveled to Latveria and fought an android army to confront Doom. 

After a brief fight, Cage saved Doom from the Faceless One's assassination attempt so Doom could pay his $200 fee. Grateful for his help in stopping the robot revolution, the amused Doom paid Cage and allowed him to leave Latveria unharmed.

SPIDER-MAN

When the witch-hunting Cotton Mather brought Scarlet Witch back to 1692 and charged her with witchcraft as part of the Salem Witch Trials, Doctor Doom formed an unlikely team with Spider-Man and the Vision to stop him in MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #43 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. Drawn in by the power of an ancient wizard called the Dark Rider, Doctor Doom tried to help the heroes. However, Doom's attacks were ineffective, and he was quickly captured alongside them. 

The heroes escaped thanks to the timely arrival of the telepathic Moondragon, and Doom helped them kill the Dark Rider and defeat Cotton. As Doom traveled back to the present day, he told the assembled heroes that they would be enemies whenever they met again.

X-MEN

Even though Doctor Doom has fought the X-Men, the Latverian leader once teamed up with the mutant heroes to embarrass his nemesis, Mister Fantastic. When Kitty Pryde was stuck in her intangible form and in danger of dissipating completely, an unusually insecure Reed Richards told the X-Men he was not sure if he could help her. Fortunately, in FANTASTIC FOUR VS. X-MEN (1987) #2 by Chris Claremont and Jon Bogdanove, Doom stepped in and offered to save her. 

When Mister Fantastic had a change of heart and traveled to Latveria to help Pryde, Doom had the X-Men battle the Fantastic Four. Franklin Richards made the heroes stop fighting by reminding them about Pryde, and the combined efforts of Richards and Doom ultimately saved the teenage mutant.

THE FUTURE FOUNDATION

Doctor Doom may be bitter rivals with the Fantastic Four, but he has always had a soft spot for Valeria, the daughter of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Since Doom helped deliver and name her, Valeria affectionally views Doom as her uncle, and she invited him to join the Fantastic Four and the young geniuses of the Future Foundation in FF (2011) #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting. 

In exchange for help restoring part of his mind that had been lost, Doom assisted the Future Foundation against a ruthless group of Multiversal Reed Richards, called the Council of Reeds, and the universe-crushing Mad Celestials. Although Doom left the group when he thought he was even with the Richards, Valeria still tried to bring out the best in him.

THE AVENGERS

In AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS (2014), Doctor Doom and the Scarlet Witch teamed up to stop the Red Skull from using the telepathic power of Professor X's brain. However, the spell went wrong, and it inverted the personalities of the heroes and villains nearby. 

Transformed into a selfless leader, Doom assembled his own team of Avengers with help from Valeria Richards and Phil Coulson in AVENGERS WORLD (2014) #15 by Nick Spencer, Frank Barbiere, and Marco Checchetto. To save Latveria from a rampaging Scarlet Witch, Doom brought Elsa Bloodstone, U.S. Agent, 3-D Man, Stingray, and Valkyrie (Brunnhilde) together as a team and successfully absorbed some of Wanda Maximoff's power. After resurrecting Stinger (Cassie Lang), Doom organized the resurrection of Doctor Voodoo, who helped him reverse the effects of the inversion spell.

IRON MAN

After briefly taking over the Multiverse in SECRET WARS (2015), Doctor Doom returned to the Marvel Universe with a more selfless outlook and a genuine desire to do good. He stepped down from the Latverian throne and teamed up with a skeptical Iron Man in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (2015) #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez. 

With a fully healed face, Doom shed his armor and helped Tony Stark deal with Madame Masque, who was possessed by a demon. He even gave Stark a Wand of Watoomb and exorcised the demon when it tried to possess him. 

When Stark fell into a deep coma during CIVIL WAR II (2016), Doom donned a new armor and began operating as Iron Man in INFAMOUS IRON MAN (2016) #1 by Bendis and Alex Maleev. Shortly after Stark resumed his activities as Iron Man, Doom returned to Latveria and took control once again.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Although Doctor Doom spends most of his time on Earth, he keeps a foot in the larger cosmos via a seat on the Galactic Council. Shortly after the Guardians of the Galaxy became the universe's officially sanctioned protectors, Doom teamed up with the cosmic heroes in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2020) #14 by Al Ewing and Juan Frigeri. 

Although Doom attacked the team at first and had his mind briefly swapped with Rocket Raccoon, he officially joined the group to help deal with an oncoming cosmic threat. When that threat was revealed to be Dormammu in "The Last Annihilation," the Guardians helped Doom absorb the dark lord's mystical energy in their final battle. However, the heroes never realized Doom had secretly orchestrated everything in order to steal Dormammu's power. 

DOCTOR STRANGE: BLOOD HUNT

When an ancient evil called Varnae corrupted Blade, he plunged the Earth into darkness as part of a worldwide vampire invasion. While the energy of the Darkforce Dimension encased the whole world in bleak darkness, Doctor Doom found a way to keep Latveria safe from vampires. 

With the Avengers reeling and his body turned into a vampire, Doctor Strange—with no other options—approached Doom and asked for help dissipating the Darkforce Dimension's cover in BLOOD HUNT (2024) #4. Although Doom has already recruited the Strange Academy students to help carry out his plan, he asked Strange to give up his title as Sorcerer Supreme in exchange for his cooperation.

Despite some initial hesitation, Strange agreed to transfer the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to Doom on one condition: that Doom would give up this power when the world was safe. Accordingly, Doom performed a ritual that dissolved the Darkforce, which allowed the Avengers, Dracula, Bloodline, and the Marvel Universe's other heroes to stop Varnae and the vampire hordes. However, Doom refused to give up the mantle, claiming he had much more work to do before he believed the world to be "safe."

Behold the road to One World Under Doom in BLOOD HUNT (2024), now on sale!

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