Avengers: Doomsday prep guide: the films, the comics and the man in the mask

This guide was written before the film's release. It covers the films and comics that set the story up, not the film's plot, so it is safe to read before or after you see it.

In the comics, Victor von Doom grew up a Romani orphan in the small European kingdom of Latveria, won a place at an American university, blamed his classmate Reed Richards for the lab explosion that scarred him, and came home in armor to make himself king. He is a genius, a sorcerer and a ruler who believes he alone could save the world if it would only let him rule it. He has stolen cosmic power more than once, ruled the remains of reality as God Emperor, and served a year as Iron Man. Our primer on who Doom is tells the whole story in eight minutes, and the Doctor Doom guide goes deeper.

Marvel revealed much of the cast on March 26, 2025, in a livestream that showed their names on the backs of director's chairs, ending with Downey himself. These are the films where the announced characters were last seen, or first appeared, so you can catch up on the people you will meet.

Marvel's cast lists can change between announcement and release, so treat this as the cast as announced, not a guarantee of who appears.

Marvel has not said which comics the film adapts. These are the three stories that best explain why Doom is the villain for an event this size.

1. The origin

   Fantastic Four Annual #2 · 1964 · Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

   Who Doom is and why he hates Reed Richards, in twenty minutes.

   Collected in Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2. Find it: Amazon · Bookshop.org

2. The first Secret Wars

   Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1–12 · 1984–85 · Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck

   Doom steals the power of the being who brought Earth's heroes to an alien world to fight.

   Find it: Amazon · Bookshop.org

3. Secret Wars

   Secret Wars #1–9 · 2015–16 · Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić

   With the multiverse destroyed, Doom builds a new world from its pieces and rules it as God Emperor.

   Find it: Amazon · Bookshop.org

Our list of ten Doom comics to read before Doomsday goes further, and the full reading order covers sixty years. (Store links are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate and a Bookshop.org affiliate, this site earns from qualifying purchases.)

This site rates every version of the Fantastic Four against every version of Doom, including the First Steps family. We do not rate the film's Doom, because nobody has seen him fight yet, so here is how the Earth-828 Four do against the comics' classic Doom at his everyday peak:

• Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal's version): classic Doom wins 70%. Full matchup
• The Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby's version): classic Doom wins 52%. Full matchup
• The Human Torch (Joseph Quinn's version): classic Doom wins 76%. Full matchup
• The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach's version): classic Doom wins 65%. Full matchup

Together they are a different story: try the First Steps family against every Doom in the team calculator. And since Namor is on the announced cast, the comics' Namor rates 58% for classic Doom on his matchup page; the film's Namor is his own character, but the rivalry between the two kings goes back to 1962.

Settle the oldest argument on the internet with Thanos vs. Doctor Doom, find out how strong Doom really is, or pick any fight you like in the matchup finder.