Enter… Doctor Doom!

Doctor Doom observes the Avengers as they return to the present day after battling Kang the Conqueror in the year 4000.[1] The Latverian monarch is setting his sights on the Avengers strictly as an intimidation tactic against his true enemies the Fantastic Four. However, his plans give him pause as he remembers his past encounter with Kang — back when he called himself Rama-Tut — and how they theorized that they might be the same man centuries apart.[2] Doom fears what a defeat in the present might mean for his possible future, but dismisses the idea of failure outright.

As the Avengers settle in at home, Hawkeye is annoyed with the way the Scarlet Witch is looking at Captain America and thinks about how things would be different if he were leading the Avengers. Hawkeye decides to head out, leading to another squabble with Captain America because he hadn’t been formally dismissed. Eventually, Cap gets fed up and allows Hawkeye to go if only so he doesn’t have to listen to him complaining anymore. The Scarlet Witch asks Cap why he continues to put up with such abuse and he explains that he has a responsibility to keep the team going while its founding members are on a leave of absence.[3] However, left alone with his thoughts, Steve Rogers wonders when the original Avengers will come back and relieve him of his burden as he wishes to start forming his own life and new roots in this era.[4] In order to get his mind off of his troubles, Steve goes down to the training room to exercise.

Checking the mail, Wanda is excited to learn that she and Pietro might have a surviving relative that lives in Latveria.[5] This comes as great news to the twins who then go tell the others and prepare to make a trip to Latveria.

Little do they know that this is a trap that has been set by Doctor Doom to lure the Avengers to his homeland. After receiving confirmation that the Avengers are on their way, Doctor Doom goes out for a walk among his subjects. Coming across a boy who walks with a crutch, Doom can relate to the boy due to his own disability and gives the kid a gold coin.[6] While most of the villagers worship their ruler, some in the crowd secretly harbor disdain over the tyrant who rules their lives.

A few days later, the Avengers arrive in Latveria by train. At the station, the quartet is quickly arrested and locked in a nearby jail. It’s only then that they realize that Latveria is the homeland of Doctor Doom. Luckily, Wanda is able to break them free with her hex powers. Once free, the Avengers change into their costumes and try to escape the city. However, word soon reaches Doctor Doom and he erects a massive dome around his kingdom, trapping the Avengers inside. When Wanda attempts to use her hex powers on this dome, they are not powerful enough to provide them an easy exit. As Quicksilver speeds around to find another way out, the locals are turned against them due to Doctor Doom’s propaganda network. With no other way out, the Avengers realize that they have no other choice but to confront Doctor Doom and head for his castle. When they finally meet with Doom, he admits that he has only a passing interest in the Avengers and only wishes to defeat them to intimidate the Fantastic Four. Soon a battle breaks out, and Doom has the upper hand at first. This changes when Hawkeye uses arrows that can melt Doctor Doom’s armor.[7] With his armor compromised, Doctor Doom flees the room to change into a fresh suit allowing the Avengers to retreat and come up with a new strategy.

When Doom returns, the mother of the crippled boy begs Doom to lower the dome. This is because there is a doctor in Zuroch that can treat her son, but he is scheduled to leave for America soon. Unfortunately, Doctor Doom refuses as he is more interested in destroying the Avengers. While back in the United States, the Fantastic Four learn that the Avengers are trapped in Latveria. When they attempt to head to Europe to help them, the government puts a stop on it. This is because the United States considers Latveria an ally and the Fantastic Four’s involvement could create a diplomatic incident.

Back in Latveria, the Avengers overhear the boy being denied treatment and realize the longer they remain trapped in the country, the worse it will be for its citizens. Captain America decides that their only choice is to attack Doctor Doom again. This time around, Doctor Doom is growing tired of dealing with the Avengers. The battle doesn’t last long, as the Avengers retreat after the Scarlet Witch uses her hex powers to destroy the dome controls, opening up the country again. Hawkeye then disorientates Doctor Doom with a sneeze-smog arrow allowing them to flee the country. Once they reach the border, Captain America fears that this might not be the last they hear of Doctor Doom, but vows that his team will be ready next time.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Doctor Doom, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing)

Continuity Notes

1. This happened in Avengers #23-24. This future is an alternate timeline designated Reality-6311 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.

2. Rama-Tut and Doctor Doom met back in Fantastic Four Annual #2. As revealed in Avengers #269, the time storm that allowed this encounter to happen was orchestrated by Immortus to ensure that Rama-tut would follow his destiny to become Immortus. Although Doom was led to believe that Rama-Tut is his future self, What If? (vol. 2) #39 states that Rama-Tut/Kang is a descendant of either Reed Richards or Doctor Doom.

3. The founding Avengers —Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, and the Wasp — all took a leave of absence in Avengers #16 and left Captain America in charge of its new recruits, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch.

4. Captain America is still coping with being a man out of time since the Avengers revived him from suspended animation. He had been trapped in ice since 1945. See Avengers #4.

5. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch identify themselves as orphans in this story. Their parentage is a rather complicated affair. TL;DR version: Their mother has been revealed to be Natalya Maximoff in Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4 and an unidentified man. They were raised by their aunt and uncle Django and Marya Maximoff. See Avengers #182, and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #11. In the past, they have been incorrectly identified as the children of the Whizzer and Miss America (Avengers Annual #6) and Magneto and his late wife Magda (Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4).

6. Really, Doctor Doom’s real disability is being incredibly vain since the only reason he’s “crippled” (as he put it) is because one of his own inventions blew up in his face. See Fantastic Four #5.

7. Hawkeye mentions he originally designed these iron melting arrows to battle Iron Man. He first used them in Tales of Suspense #64.

Topical References

• Dated pop-culture references: Ed Sullivan Show, Peter Sellers, 77 Sunset Strip, The Munsters, Alfred Hitchcock