9 Worst Things Doctor Doom Has Done

6. He Sent Franklin Richards To Hell

Marvel Comics

One of the most interesting things about Doctor Doom's power is that he's a fan of both science and magic, and has managed to master both. Every year, he fights Mephisto to save the soul of his mother, and in some of his more heroic moments, Doom has used his sorcery to save the world too.

But alas, we're here to discuss his worst moments, and the time he literally sent Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman's child to Hell has to be one of them.

Another highlight from Mark Waid's delightfully devilish run on Fantastic Four, the moment took place in the first part of the 'Unthinkable' storyline, wherein it was revealed that Doom, having helped deliver Sue's other baby Valeria, had actually made the child his familiar. Doing so, Doom is able to strike at the Fantastic Four when they're most vulnerable, resulting in Valeria's first words being "Doom" (which in itself is fairly terrible), and in their other child, Franklin, being sent to Hell.

Both Reed and Johnny Storm attempt to save Franklin only to be scorched by the demonic flames rising through the portal, and while Reed attempts to devise a solution, Doom taunts him through Valeria. This forces the Four to travel to Latveria as fast as possible, but Doom - now equipped with new powers having used another character as a sacrifice - is unstoppable.

Horrible, horrible stuff.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.