Comic Book

Marvel Teases Doctor Doom's Origin in The Ultimates Preview

By Matthew Aguilar,

23 hours ago

As Tony Stark and his band of heroes attempt to right the wrongs of The Maker and recruit new heroes to the cause , the actual origins of those who are standing beside him are finally starting to come to light. That includes the history of this world's Reed Richards, who has spent a lifetime under the thumb of The Maker and robbed of a much happier life. All of that and more will be explored in The Ultimates #4, and Marvel has revealed a brand new preview of the anticipated issue , which you can find on the next slide.

My Negative Zone

Doom spends the first part of the preview watching a much different life play out, one that has Reed experiencing his journey alongside a family of Sue, Johnny, and Ben. It's so close that he can almost touch it, and as he looks upon the life he never had the chance to experience, the here and now is of no consequence and almost vanishes around him.

His first meeting with Ben Grimm, the journey to space that gave his soon to be family their powers, and his first meeting with Sue all play out around him as the team in the present return from another mission that they desperately needed him to be a part of. As those conversations play out behind him, Doom sees the initial ideas that led to that fateful trip to space, and then reveals the feelings of extreme despair that have crept in over time.

Doom tells Tony that he suffers from periods of extreme despair, and during these periods of time, he is what he describes as oppositely charged. He describes this feeling as if he's lost in an all consuming universe where nothing is possible, and he calls it his "negative zone". You can check out the full preview on the next slide, and you can find the official description for the issue below.

The Ultimates #4

Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Phil Noto
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Wil Moss
Assistant Editor: Michelle Marchese

"THE FATE OF THE ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR! Doom's years of torture at the hands of the Maker finally catch up to him in this secret history of the real Reed Richards! And tensions rise among the Ultimates when Doom might be more fixated on re-creating the life he should have had than the life he's got..."

The Ultimates #4 hits comic stores on September 4th.

What have you thought of the series so far? You can talk all things comics with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!