Throughout this all,
Doctor Doom is reserved, almost reactionary. He doesn't go looking for fights,
but finishes them utterly once they start. He doesn't commit genocide against
other alien invaders, just wrecks their ability to make war. He doesn’t go out
looking for a fight with The Celestials, he just stops them from interfering in
the affairs of lesser civilizations because they interfered with his. He gains
the Inifinity Gems because he's confident that he can and should wield this
power. While I haven't read any of the “Infinity Gauntlet” that wasn't written
by Brian Clevinger, I'm pretty sure there was a lot of fucking hand-wringing
over what to do with the Infinity Gems once Thanos was defeated. A lot of
“that's too much responsibility for one man”s being thrown around. While Doctor
Doom doesn't doubt the morality of his actions, once he can surpass his petty
desires to rule the world, avenge himself on Reed Richards, and save his
mother's soul, his moral compass points as well as any superhero's that doesn't
doubt itself and eagerly agrees to ignore The Prime Directive if someone else
does first.
It's strange that Doctor
Doom's actions in this story still aren't heroic; they're responsible. He
doesn't have that moral myopia that only lets him hit the guy in front of him.
He'd rather the job be done definitively than to keep bloodshed at a minimum.
The exception is that he doesn't concern himself with the massive consequences
of fighting the most powerful beings in the universe because he is right and they
are wrong. Indeed, that kind of moral myopia isn't foreign to Doom, it's
actually his normal level of petty elimination of people who oppose him. He
will change the status quo of existence itself because it inconveniences him.
That the consequences destroy Earth are no matter; he uses the last of his
power to give the Earth a glorious rebirth. Of course, Doom himself is given a
rebirth as a simple human, so much the better to begin his quest anew.
Doom
must strive. Doom must oppose. It's only in adversity that Doctor Doom finds
his calling. It's only by punching so far above his weight class that he can
find the challenges that a genius—nay, a man—of his caliber requires. The
central point of his character isn't to protect others or even to take his petty
vengeances, it is to seek, to strive, to
find, and not to yield (Yes, Tennyson). It’s the same unquenchable fire that
drives heroes, but its direction is totally inward, pushing Doom to test and
prove himself. Doom must be the best, he must be worthy of his own image.
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