One of Dr. Doom’s main sticking points on his origin story is the loss of his mother to a demon and in the most recent issue of ‘The Infamous Iron Man’ we’ve learned that not only was this apparently false but that she’s been on Earth this entire time. The final page of the issue, of course, tells us that we don’t have the whole story as of yet.
True or not, such a revelation that comes at the very core of the character’s development will have a huge impact on him after recent events. In the last year we’ve seen Victor Von Doom become a God and restore to humanity, change from Dr. Doom to The Infamous Iron Man, and now he’ll have a new purpose with his mother still alive. Only, we’ve also seen that with her return we will once more have Doom up against Reed Richards. Only, this is the Richards from the Ultimate Universe.
A heroic Doom and an evil Richards? Talk about a role reversal.
Series writer Brian Michael Bendis lets us know what kind of a reaction the return of Cynthia von Doom is going to get from her son:
“One could argue that all Victor ever wanted was his mother.
All of his studies in the early part of his career and most of the quests that he was venturing on were an attempt to contact his mother or rescue his mother from her own fates. Probably for that one last hug. And when he couldn’t make that happen he would lash out at the world. So, for most of his life, Victor found himself sculpted by his drive to not only get his mother back, but to get his mother back using the tools that his mother had mastered as a sorceress. She was also a sorcerer. She was banished to a dark demonic dimension. These are very complicated, huge, Shakespearean level events that Victor was consumed by and forged by.”
With her return coinciding with Doom’s change is it fair to the character that she is back only now that he appears to have turned a new leaf?
“Oh God, no. But life is never fair and certainly never to anybody who is the lead of a monthly Marvel comic. Victor’s mother showing up brings so many more questions [than] we have answers for. Is it really her? Is it a trick? Is it that demon that Victor battled to rescue her soul masquerading as his mother in an attempt to mess with him? Is it The Maker, the evil Reed Richards, trying to defeat Victor with the ultimate mind [expletive]?”
Of course, Bendis won’t give an actual answer as to how she factors into the future if the series as he states that:
“Nothing is what it seems. And for those who think they know what that means…they don’t know what that means.”
As she is keeping company with the alternate Reed Richards, it is hard to trust that she is real or this Victor’s mother let alone not just a tool being used against him. Having to find out where his mother is and what she has been up to will surely put Doom’s new found heroism to the test when he comes up against Richards and I’m dying to see how it plays out on page.
Do you think that this is the real Cynthia von Doom? What will her return mean for Victor going forward? Share your thoughts below!
‘Infamous Iron Man’ #6 will be at comic book stores everywhere on March 29th, 2017!
Source: Marvel
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
