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The best thing about writing Marvel villain Doctor Doom? The way he forces scripters to up their game, says Fantastic Four writer
"Doctor Doom is a person who’s never said ‘um’ in his life," says Fantastic Four comic book writer Ryan North

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It’s one thing having to come up with plots and machinations when you’re writing a comic book villain, but the greatest comic book villains are such that challenge their writers with their very speech patterns — as Fantastic Four and One World Under Doom writer Ryan North revealed.
Asked during the Q&A portion of the Friday afternoon Marvel Fanfare panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 whether or not he enjoyed writing Doctor Doom — the character at the heart not only of North’s current Marvel event comic book series, but the bad guy of his current Fantastic Four storyline — the writer had an unexpected reason got enjoying working with the Latverian monarch so often.
“Writing Doctor Doom is a joy because, every other character, you write their speech kind of like how a person talks, but Doctor Doom is a person who’s never said ‘um’ in his life,” North admitted during the Marvel Fanfare panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. “Everything he says is so formal, so you get to write speeches all the time.”
North had an example of what he was talking about: “I think it was in One World Under Doom #2, when the Thing loses his powers, any other person would say, ‘The Thing was transformed because of his error.’ Doom says, ‘Behold the Thing! A man by error and ineptitude transformed.’ There’s just so much more grace when he speaks, so he’s just fun to write. You always have to bring your A game when you write him.”
North has a few more months to enjoy Doom’s linguistic foibles before what is being teased as a pretty severe setback for the character. All things considered, I'm sure he'll have something to say about that.
Want more? Make sure you've read our list of all the best Marvel Comics stories of all time, and get ready for all the free Marvel comics coming as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day / Comics Giveaway Day events.
About Comic-Con International: San Diego 2025
Comic-Con is the premier event for all things comics and related popular art, including movies, television, gaming, interactive multimedia, and so much more! Enjoy cosplay galore and take part in unique programming, exclusive previews, and presentations, not to mention the expansive and diverse Exhibit Hall featuring merchandise and displays representing all fandoms.
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San Diego
United States
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