In this review of Captain America #15, Captain America and Doom lead the forces of hell to Mephisto’s throne, and meet a surprising end to their fight.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #15
Written by: Chip Zdarsky
Art by: Valerio Schiti
Main Cover: Valerio Schiti
Variant Covers: Skan Srisuwan, AKA, Alex Ross, Nicoletta Baldari
Page Count: 25 pages
Release Date: September 2, 2026
This review contains spoilers
The battle for Mephisto’s Realm continues in Captain America #15, and eventually turns into the battle for Dr. Doom and Steve Rogers’ soul. In the climax of the previous issue’s battle, Red Skull summons the Third Reich, all of whom were sentenced to hell, to help him in his conquest.
Steve fights back using the Antidivine Shield. It gets broken during the course of the battle, leaving the squad without their ace. In the end, he still wins without it and knocks out the Red Skull with a punch.
Post-battle, Doom confronts Red Skull in prison. Skull remarks that if Doom was to become the ruler of Mephisto’s realm, he would have to become the ruler of souls and a holder of captives. Schmidt acknowledges that Victor has a morally gray nature, but this was a line he could not cross. Victor tells the Skull not to be so sure.
Steve and Doom arrive at Mephisto’s location, but they are simply no match. Defeated, they are out of options until Mephisto strikes a deal with them. Steve refuses initially, classifying it as defeat. Doom frames it as survival.
For Doom, Mephisto promises to restore him back to life. In exchange, he obtains the rights to Victor’s soul after his second death. Additionally, Victor also must allow Mephisto to eternally torture Valeria. Doom accepts.
The deal proposed to Captain America is that Cap gives up his soul and stays in the realm. In exchange, Mephisto ensures freedom across the Earth, promising the abolition of dictatorships and abundance of free flowing democracy. Captain America puts his head down and accepts.
Analysis
The inclusion of Nazis and the Red Skull is very intriguing in relation to Victor Von Doom’s character. Having Red Skull there to challenge Doom on the exact extent he would go to helps settle in how morally gray he is. It’s a good decision, since Doom’s about to be the villain of probably the highest grossing film of all time. It’s especially relevant with the influx of fans that have been saying that Doom is a hero in actuality.
Doom certainly tends to portray himself like one, even though the deeper analysis shows that it’s a coping method. Chip Zdarsky displaying that one of the things that Doom is willing to tolerate is having captives and slaves, like the Nazis did, reestablishes him as a morally gray character. One with many moral flaws, despite doing some good. Perhaps the clearest example of his nuance comes from the fact he left Valeria to suffer at Mephisto’s hands, even though he felt guilty for his past actions towards her. Victor even offered her the chance to kill him in a prior issue.
Yet, Doom’s guilt cannot stop him from his NEED to be in a position of power. To avoid the powerlessness he felt as a child when his parents were taken. On the topic of childhood, one of the contrasts that was interesting between Steve and Doom also relates to the difference in upbringing. They differ in what they mean by the word survival.
Steve’s definition of survival is doing everything he can until he can’t, without sacrificing his morality, as shown in the previous Straczynski run. Doom’s method is doing whatever it takes to survive, even if it conflicts with his morality and ego. He will do whatever it takes to survive, while Steve will do whatever it takes to fight.
The art is fantastic with a strong mix between wide pans and close-up shots, showcasing both the massive scale of the battles as well as emotional storytelling. The Zdarsky-Schiti duo has been on fire (no pun intended), and I’m eager to see how this deal between Captain Rogers and Mephisto falls through.
Final Thoughts
I can’t even fit everything I wanted to say in the review of this stellar issue by Chip Zdarsky. I walked away extremely excited about the conclusion of the Hell’s Angel arc and it’s tie-in to the ongoing Armageddon event.
