Doctor Doom: Marvel’s Transmedia Supervillain

When Doctor Doom first appeared he was simply the latest villain created to battle The Fantastic Four, sandwiched between the return of the Sub-Mariner and the debut of Kuurgo from Planet X. However, he quickly became a favourite not just with fans but also with his creators, gaining a sympathetic origin story, complex motivations, and an importance in Marvel's transmedia universe that would see him appearing in movies, cartoon series, video games and toy ranges, as well as maintaining a constant presence in comics for over fifty years. Despite this popularity, however, Doom would rarely headline a series of his own.

This chapter will examine Doctor Doom's history, in comics and across other media, and show how his status as a well-defined character and recurring guest in a growing range of titles led to him becoming an early instance of what would come to be known as a transmedia character. Different theories of transmedia will be illustrated using examples from this history, leading to an in-depth analysis of Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars (Shooter et al, 1984-85) and Secret Wars (Hickman et al, 2015-2016) which will seek to show that Doctor Doom is not just a character that exists within transmedia storyworlds, but also a commentary upon them.