In this review of One World Under Doom #5, a battle-ravaged Victor Von Doom has successfully brought the Marvel heroes back from exile to help battle Dormammu in the strangest Marvel Team-up ever. Awkward.
ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #5
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: R.B. Silva
Main Cover: Ben Harvey
Variant Covers: KEN LASHLEY, R.B. SILVA, GLEB MELNIKOV, E.M.GIST
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: June11, 2025
This review contains spoilers
One World Under Doom #5 picks up in the aftermath of the intense, magic-infused boss battle from issue #4, as the X-Men, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four follow Doom’s lead against Dormammu’s invasion of Earth. While wary of Doom’s motives, the heroes recognize the need for an alliance against their common enemy and press the attack, which gives Doom a breather, and time to plot his next move.
As the heroes vent their frustration against Dormammu, the Dreaded one taunts the heroes for foolishly siding with Doom. Meanwhile, Doom reclaims the Eye of Agamotto and channels its immense power into a binding spell that traps Dormammu, and banishes him from the Earthly realm (as long as he is in charge).
Before the dust settles, Doom does a mic drop and disappears, leaving the heroes to help rescue the survivors, most of whom end up praising Doom. Cable news and social media influencers roundly laud Doom’s leadership and his willingness to work with the Marvel heroes as a positive.
Amid the rescue efforts, Squirrel Girl waxes poetic about Doom’s growing popularity, noting that his actions are mostly publicity stunts, but that they seem to be working. After all of the survivors are pulled from the wreckage without out a scratch, Sue Storm and Iron Man grudgingly admit that Doom’s plan worked.
Thor then enters the chat, floating the idea that perhaps Doom is the proper champion for Earth at this moment. As the current King of Asgard, and having grown up in a monarchy, Thor finds Doom’s domineering approach acceptable since it produces positive results for his people.
Iron Man justifiably blows a gasket, rattling off a list of Doom’s offenses, but Thor cannot be swayed. The thunder god instead doubles down, claiming that his friends’ intense “dislike” of Doom blinds them to the good he is doing for the world.
One World Under Doom #5 ends as an injured and exhausted Maria Hill (remember her?) interrupts the debate with news about the secret to Doom’s success (and to why the heroes keep losing). Hill knows where to find Doom’s mystery bauble, but she needs the heroes help to steal it. To be continued…in two months?
Analysis
One World Under Doom #5 moves the story in an unexpected direction as the heroes finally begin to understand the breadth and scope of Doom’s influence on the world. Also, the tantalizing hint of a magical McGuffin behind Doom’s rise offers a possible solution to counter this rising global mania. Doom is still doing bad things (just ask Ben Grimm), but they are largely ignored amid his grandstanding.
Writer Ryan North aptly stirs the pot of conflict into a thick stew, forcing the heroes to align with Doom in a fight against an existential threat, while some in their rank have become enamored with the notion of Doom’s “heroics”. North doesn’t shy away from Doom’s many past sins, but the Emperor’s supporters willingly ignore misdeeds in favor of a promise of a better tomorrow.
Doom’s inner monologue in One World Under Doom #5 goes a long way toward explaining the despot’s motivations and world view. The most illuminating (and damning) element of his thought process stems from his counter attack against Dormammu being fueled by hate and revenge. Doom’s narration is pragmatic at best, illustrating an individual who desires total control at any cost.
Doom has precious little empathy, and that, along with the misguided belief that he is destined to rule is already a major character flaw. Throw in hate as a motivation to act in defense of others and you are asking for trouble. Thor’s argument in defense of Doom is skewed (although it makes sense to him), but his friends failing to effectively counter Thor’s argument just makes things worse.
When Squirrel Girl and Brain-Drain are the main voices of reason out of the entire cohort of Marvel heroes, things have truly upended in the Marvel Universe. Also, something must be said about Doom’s “dead-man’s switch” spell that keeps Dormammu locked up, as long as Doom is in control of Earth.
R.B. Silva’s art grabs the readers attention with the spectacular opening multi-page spread featuring the Marvel heroes descending on Dormammu. Silva’s fight scenes brim with energy, (see Sue Storm’s senses shattering sucker punch for example).
The talking head scenes work, as does the two panel sequence of the Marvel Heroes’ silent glower at Thor’s support of Doom (you can practically feel the chill). Some of the art is enhanced by colorist David Curiel’s visual effects, giving the magic spells and flames an ethereal quality, but some of those enhancements also overwhelm the artwork. (Dormammu getting trapped in Doom’s spell is a nice visual touch though).
Final Thoughts
One World Under Doom #5 features solid art and story, and moves the plot forward by splitting up longtime allies, and offering a possible answer (and solution) to Doom meteoric rise and global domination.
