WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Doom #9 by Christopher Cantwell, Salvador Larroca, Guru-eFX & VC's Cory Petit on sale now
Doctor Doom has shown many shades of the classic Marvel villain, exploring his strengths, his weaknesses, and even what faults he can see in himself. But when the chips are down and the world is on the line, Doom still can't stop himself from giving in to his worst impulses.
In Doctor Doom #9, the villain's self-doubt and inability to stop assuming the worst about Reed Richards might have just cost him his life, and his tendency to be his own worst enemy destroyed the entire world.
The world is currently depending on Doctor Doom to save the world following an attempt to frame the Latverian King by Symkaria led to the creation of an unstable and expanding black hole. With Blue Marvel seemingly lost in his attempt to solve the crisis, Doctor Doom has thrown himself into the emergency. He announces his plan to the world, and fully intends to give himself over to the authorities once this is all over so he can make amends and eventually become such a beloved and repentant figure that the world HAS to make him king.
Before the process to stop the black hole goes into effect, Doom gets a surprise call from his greatest enemy: Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. Despite their long rivalry, Richards believes in Doom's designs and wishes him luck on his mission. But Doom can't just accept the gesture. He immediately accuses Richards of believing he could save the world in a more elegant way. Reed denies this, but his own tensions with Doom after years of being nemeses leads Doom to think Reed is just calling to mess with him. What Doom doesn't realize is that Reed -- after talking out some of his problems with Captain America and pushing past his own feelings to look at the greater good Doom is carrying out -- really does seem to be trying to offer Doom some well wishes on his mission.
But Reed couldn't have done more damage if he had tried. Doom quickly becomes distracted thinking about Reed and his words, trying to figure out a way to logically argue with himself that it was a ploy. Doom starts to second guess himself and messes with his own experiments. Even when Doombots try to keep him on track, he merely destroys them and continues to alter his work, trying to uncover whatever flaw he believes Richards saw in his designs. As a horrified Reed watches from Earth, Doom messes with the calibrations far too much, and soon, his plan is left in shambles and can't contain the power of the black hole. And yet, Doom continues to blame Richards until the final moments.
Doctor Doom is one of the most brilliant men in the Marvel Universe. He's a master of both science and magic, giving him genuine skill above almost every other figure in the multiverse. But he's also an unbelievably petty figure, who can't accept that everyone else isn't the same exact way. Even though he may blame Reed Richards for distracting him during this mission, it's ultimately his decision to change his designs. It's his decision to become obsessed with what Reed said, setting him up to ruin the entire plan with his self-doubt. At the end of the day, Doctor Doom #9 proves that Doctor Doom's greatest enemy isn't Reed Richards. It is -- and always will be -- himself and his pride.