Warning: contains spoilers for Devil’s Reign: Superior Four #2!
Marvel’s most shocking and mysterious variant has already made his name in history, brutally defeating three of Doctor Strange’s most powerful villains in mere moments. This new player on the Marvel stage is a master of his realm – and soon will be a master of others if those who oppose him aren’t careful. In Devil’s Reign: Superior Four #2, none other than Doctor Doom Supreme reveals himself to be one of the most dangerous foes of 2022.
In Devil’s Reign: Superior Four, Doctor Octopus has aided the Kingpin in arresting Reed Richards – and thus, the Baxter Building and all the secrets within are free for the taking. Otto Octavius focuses on only one object: the Forever Gate, a device that allows travel between different dimensions. He gathers three other Doctor Octopi from the Multiverse: Otto Howlet (with the powers of Wolverine), Otto Banner (with the powers of the Hulk) and Otto Blaze (with the powers of Ghost Rider). Octavius intends to use his new Octopi Army to become superior across the Multiverse – but the team is intercepted by a fourth Octopus variant.
On Earth-8968, Doom Supreme, a Doctor Octopus variant who has achieved the rank of Sorcerer Supreme, intercepts Otto and holds him hostage with his superior intellect, technology and magic spells. Otto, naturally, begins to boast and decides to threaten his captor, but Doom Supreme will have none of it. “Please. I’ve liquified Shuma-Gorath, Dormammu’s groveled at my feet, I’ve burnt Knull to ash.” Otto remains defiant, but if what Doom says is true, then he is very powerful indeed.
All three villains are supremely powerful entities who are traditionally known as Doctor Strange (and extra-terrestrial symbiote-based) villains. It’s tradition for Doctor Strange to outwit his enemies instead of fighting them head-on, as even the Sorcerer Supreme can’t hope to fight the likes of Dormammu physically. But Doom Supreme can – and he’s used his mastery of magic and the occult to not only defeat his opponents, but liquify and burn them.
Doctor Doom in any universe is quite proud of his accomplishments, but he actually has the power to back up his boasts. Doom Supreme has this in spades, and one wonders what would happen were he to travel to Marvel’s 616 universe. Hopefully, he would only focus on Doctor Strange’s villains and not the heroes of the universe, for they would have little chance at stopping Doom Supreme.
