In an epic piece of fanart, creator Sajad Shah recreates the epic moment in 2015’s Secret Wars where Doctor Doom uses his godlike powers to kill Thanos in a single strike. The moment has quickly become an iconic image in both villains’ histories, to the point that God Emperor Doom’s official Marvel Legends figure comes with Thanos’ skull and spine for the figure to hold aloft triumphantly.
Shared by webstersvault and credited to artist Sajad Shah, this art is a breathtaking recreation of the moment from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s Secret Wars #8. In the art, Doctor Doom wears his white cloak as ‘God Emperor Doom’ and holds Thanos’ skull aloft, glowing with eldritch energy.
Sajad Shah’s awesome art was designed as the cover to their art book, which went on sale at New York Comic Con with a variety of covers. Shah will be familiar to comic fans from FlyBoy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and SlowRush.
Killing Thanos Is One of Doctor Doom’s Most Iconic Moments
Secret Wars Erased the Line Between Good and Evil
In 2015’s Secret Wars, the Marvel multiverse is destroyed by the mysterious Beyonders. However, by stealing their powers, Doctor Doom is able to save scraps from multiple realities, forging them into a new planet named Battleworld. Doom uses his powers to rule this world as a god for years, with his empire only challenged once a capsule containing some of Marvel’s mainstream-reality heroes is discovered, and they emerge to bring him down and restore the multiverse.
However, in a battle for all creation, the heroes can’t afford to be picky, and work alongside Thanos and his Cabal in order to undermine Doom’s hold on Battleworld. In the final fight, Thanos squares off with Doom, mocking him as a “weak god.” In response, Doctor Doom obliterates Thanos and is left holding his skull and spine.
Doctor Doom vs Thanos Is Widely Misunderstood
Thanos Scored the Win That Matters
The moment is clearly not how Thanos wanted their fight to go – it’s Reed Richards who eventually defeats Doom – however to call him the loser is short-sighted. Thanos’ larger goal was to topple Doctor Doom and restore the multiverse, and his activities in Secret Wars are intended to split Doom’s forces and sow confusion and chaos. Ultimately, Thanos does get what he wants from this face-off – Doom loses his power, and Thanos is reconstituted in the next iteration of reality, free once again to serve his godlike mistress Death. Thanos got everything he wanted in Secret Wars, however it’s the visual of Doctor Doom literally ripping out his spine that stuck with fans.
So far, it’s unknown how closely 2027’s planned MCU movie Avengers: Secret Wars will stick to the source material, however anything is possible. The original comic sees countless realities crash together, offering the perfect opportunity to resurrect or bring back any characters who weren’t around in canon at the time. The movies can pull the same trick, meaning a version of Thanos may well face off against Doctor Doom when Secret Wars eventually hits theaters.
Sources: webstersvault, Sajad Shah
