Every Time Tony Stark Appeared As Doctor Doom In The Comics

Reactions to Robert Downey Jr.'s casting as Victor Von Doom have been mixed, to say the least, with many fans upset at seeing a familiar face get the part over a new-to-the-MCU actor. After all, Downey Jr. is synonymous with playing Iron Man, and many folks wish that his portrayal of the billionaire Avenger was his only Marvel legacy. That said, the comics show that Iron Man and Doom have more or less been one and the same at several different times, so, in a way, Downey Jr. is the perfect choice to play the masked supervillain.

What's more, Doom and Stark have a lot of things in common. For starters, they're both passionate scientists who are extremely adept at building gadgets and machines. Both characters also have massive egos, but that's understandable considering that they're also both super-geniuses who know how to throw down when the need arises.

Moreover, Stark has become Doom on a few occasions, even if he hasn't always also taken on the name of Marvel's iconic villain. So, without further ado, let's take a trip down memory lane and remember the times these two geniuses were practically the same fella.

Judd Winick and Kev Walker's "Exiles" #23 transports readers to a planet that's been ravaged by plagues, wars, famine, and natural disasters. Tony Stark is the President of the United States of America as well as the "Monarch of Earth," appointed by a diminished populace who are in desperate need of a savior. However, it turns out that Stark isn't a noble leader after all. He secretly schemed his way to the throne and has actively plotted to wipe out most of the world's superpowered beings.

Stark's Machiavellian plan leads to an alliance with Victor Von Doom, but the former doesn't keep his end of the bargain. This leads to a battle between the pair that culminates with Stark being disfigured, and he eventually dons a mask, armor, and green cloak that's eerily similar to Doom's attire. Stark's behavior throughout this story is truly wicked, so a costume isn't the only thing he has in common with the masked evildoer.

Robert Kirkman and Scott Kolins' "Marvel Team-Up" #2 introduces readers to Iron Maniac, aka the Tony Stark from Earth-5012's reality. While he isn't referred to as Doctor Doom in the story, his armor is obviously modeled after the powerful supervillain's gear, and he eventually feuds with the Latverian antagonist's most notable enemies.

In this reality, Stark's heel turn is caused by him going mad after he and some of his fellow Avengers were kidnapped by a Skrull tyrant known as Titannus, who enslaved them on the planet Trellion. As such, Iron Man becomes convinced that Reed Richards is a threat to the world and proceeds to go to war with him and the Fantastic Four. As you might expect, this results in some notable casualties along the way.

Iron Maniac is his own supervillain in many ways, but the parallels to Victor Von Doom are undeniable. He's even mistaken for Doom when he travels to the Earth-616 dimension, proving that they're more or less the same baddie in the eyes of some Marvel heroes. Still, being compared to one of the strongest supervillains in history is something this Tony Stark should take as a compliment.

David Michelinie, Bob Layton, and Mark Pennington's "Iron Man: Demon in an Armor" tells the story of Tony Stark and Victor Von Doom during their university years. The pair are introduced as roommates, and it doesn't take long until the two geniuses start butting heads, much like Doom's experience with Reed Richards in Marvel's primary continuity. In this reality, however, Doom wants to study in peace, while Stark is mainly interested in brewskies, women, and rock 'n' roll. Their personalities couldn't be more different.

However, the young geniuses eventually bond over their mutual interest in science, and, for a minute, it seems that they're becoming fast friends. That is until Doom betrays his roomie by hooking him up to a machine that makes them switch bodies, allowing the Latverian villain to assume Stark's identity, and vice versa.

The aftermath sees Stark, in Doom's body, hit the bottle hard and live a life of exile in Latveria. Doom, meanwhile, gets to enjoy Stark's life of privilege in the United States. That said, "Iron Man: Demon in an Armor" is a cautionary tale, and Von Doom's actions come back to bite him in the end. Meanwhile, Stark eventually picks himself out of the gutter and makes the most out of a bad situation.

The aforementioned body swapping incident isn't the only time Doctor Doom became Iron Man. After the events of Marvel's "Civil War II" left Tony Stark in a coma, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's "Infamous Iron Man" sees the Latverian scientist take on the role of Iron Man to become a hero in Stark's absence. This leads to him teaming up with the Avengers and making a concentrated effort to do some good.

This wasn't Doom's only foray into the superhero lifestyle, either. In Fred van Lente and Cory Hamscher's "Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four" #25, we meet the Earth-200781 iteration of the character, who's a hero at war with an evil version of Reed Richards and his teammates. In this reality, he calls himself Doc Iron, further establishing his ever-present similarities to Tony Stark.

At the end of the day, both characters have fundamental differences that make them unique. However, history has shown that Stark and Doom are able to fit into each other's identities rather well.

If you enjoyed this article, check out Looper's theory that Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom won't be the true Doom after all.