The Marvel Universe has a new boss, and his name is Doctor Doom. The legendary Marvel villain orchestrated events to steal the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme away from Doctor Strange in the finale of Blood Hunt. But after claiming his prize, Doctor Doom has kept a low profile, biding his time until just the right moment to declare to the world his intentions. Well, that time is coming in “One World Under Doom,” a publishing event that will sweep across the Marvel Universe. The main story will be told in a One World Under Doom limited series by Fantastic Four writer Ryan North and artist R.B. Silva.
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ComicBook got the chance to talk to Ryan North ahead of the release of February’s One World Under Doom #1, which we had the opportunity to read. We asked North about the storytelling choices made in the debut issue, Doom’s opening salvo and how Earth’s Mightiest Heroes choose to respond, what characters fans should keep their eyes on, the state of the Marvel Universe post-“One World Under Doom,” and much more. We can also show off lettered preview pages for One World Under Doom #1, which goes on sale February 12th.
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ComicBook: What was the idea behind starting the first issue with a long speech by Doctor Doom? It really helped set the tone for the story.
Ryan North: That was actually the first thing I wrote years ago when I started on it. I wrote the first version of that speech because it’s a Doctor Doom story and I wanted to make sure we knew where Doctor Doom was coming from, why he’s doing this, what he hopes to accomplish. It felt like a cool way to start the issue, with Doom being like, “Hey, I’m taking over the world and here’s why and here’s what we’re going to do.”
On the surface it appears that Doom means well. He’s in favor of universal healthcare and things of that nature. But there’s always a catch with Doom, and we see that come into play with Baron Zemo and Hydra. How will this game of chess between Doom and our heroes escalate as the series continues?
That’s a great question. Doom is someone who is not just smart but knows he’s smart, and likes to outsmart people. In the first issue, he outmaneuvers the heroes from the moment go by just thinking ahead and being smarter. The story of “One World Under Doom,” for the most part, is seeing these heroes react to Doom being in charge and trying to figure out “How do we stop him? How do we fix this? How do we go against someone who is doing his best to try and get people to like him?”
He’s Doctor Doom, he dresses like a scary robot but he’s trying to get people to like him. If you’ve seen the first issue, that woman he saves at the end repeats his slogan back to him. She’s on board.
I’m always interested in the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of how these types of stories and events come together. Was “One World Under Doom” in the works when you began your run on Fantastic Four?
It wasn’t, but it was very shortly afterward we started talking about it. It was in the works for quite awhile. I wrote Issue #7 of Fantastic Four as a Doctor Doom story and I think we started talking about it after that. It’s something that’s been in my head for years and years.
Aside from Doctor Doom, what characters are going to get a bigger spotlight in later issues?
Oh gosh, there’s tons. Slight spoiler, but the next issue has Doctor Doom going to Valeria Richards, his goddaughter, and going, “Look, unlike most people on Earth I care what you think. And I’m going to try and justify this to you.”
The Doom/Valeria relationship is one of my favorite in comics. It’s something on paper shouldn’t work. Why would Doom accept the daughter of his most hated enemy as his goddaughter? But he does and it works. It’s dramatic and operatic, and so satisfying. So that is a relationship I’m pleased to get to explore a bit.
The solicit for the second issue also teases a meeting between Doom and the Fantastic Four? Can you talk about what it’s like to bring these iconic characters together like this, especially in a big event like this?
Part of me almost thinks you need a big event like this whenever you have Reed [Richards] and Doctor Doom in the same room because they are such opposites, but also so much like each other. And neither of them will ever admit it. It’s such a fun dynamic.
Of course, what happens in this “One World Under Doom” event affects the Marvel Universe for the next 10 months, the rest of the year. That obviously touches what goes on in Fantastic Four. There are a lot of one-shot stories and one-and-dones under this status quo of “Doom is in charge and what are we going to do about it?”
This is your first big Marvel event as the head writer, so what’s it been like collaborating with the different editorial teams, and writers and artists on all the tie-ins and one-shots?
It’s been really fun. I’ve never been in this position before. I’m usually the guy doing the tie-ins, which is also fun. One of the things I wanted to do was have the full event written well in advance so that when people do a tie-in it’s not me saying, “Oh, I think this is what’s going to be happening.” Instead it’s, “Here’s the script, here’s what’s going on this month, you can play with that.”
There’s stuff coming up in Avengers and Iron Man that I’m so excited and honestly impressed, like, “Man, I wish I came up with that. That’s a really cool thing [laughs].” I’m very excited for how this is going to go across. It should feel tied together and organic and really, really cool.
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Looking at the bigger picture, how has it been to work on the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom when all eyeballs will be on them later in the year with The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Doom joining the MCU?
It’s been fun and gratifiying. I feel like there are people that think of the Fantastic Four as your grandparents’ superheroes. Like they’re old, they’re not that interesting. But they’re great. They’re really great characters and there’s a reason they’ve stuck around for so long.
I think the fact we’re getting this movie with an exciting, relevant cast will help people realize these are some cool people, with a cool world and cool villains and everything. And bring more eyes to the comics, which is always great.
To wrap up, what will be the state of the Marvel Universe once “One World Under Doom” concludes?
How can I answer this one without spoiling? I guess I can say that where this story ends is not where it begins. There are things that come out of this story that are going to have to be dealt with by everyone else.
Everyone always says, “This story is going to have consequences.” There’s stuff beyond this story that I think, “Wow, I’m glad I don’t have to write the next event because this is a big thing to pick up on.”
