Bride of Doom Begins as the Fantastic Four Honor Their Nemesis
Warning: contains a preview for Fantastic Four #32!
The latest Fantastic Four story arc, “The Bride of Doom,” kicks off in issue 32, and in a special preview, the team attend an exhibition celebrating Doctor Doom and his home country of Latveria - but when they run into Doom’s future bride, things get tense quickly.
Doctor Doom is the Fantastic Four’s greatest nemesis, and indeed one of the greatest villains in comic book history. Adept at both science and sorcery, Doctor Doom is the absolute ruler of the nation of Latveria. He has an army of body-double Doombots at his disposal, as well as a herald named Victorious. First appearing in 2018’s Fantastic Four #1, Victorious is a loyal subject of Doom who he imbued with the Power Cosmic, the same force that gave the Silver Surfer his powers; she has served Doom loyally ever since, and now he and Victorious are set to walk down the aisle together, as she is to be the “Bride of Doom.”
As the preview opens, a museum is holding a special, one-night only gala spotlighting Latverian artwork and royal treasures. While protestors rally outside, two members of the Fantastic Four, Thing and the Human Torch, make their way in as guests along with their families. The Thing’s wife Alicia has artwork featured in the exhibition, hence their invite to the event. Also present is Victorious, who sees Alicia’s sculptures and is not impressed, telling an incensed Thing to move them to a "side room." Victorious extols the virtues of Doctor Doom, prompting a crack from Human Torch. Angered yet reserved, Victorious requests for someone to get the "simpleton" away from her.
Alicia's work explains why Thing and the Human Torch at at the gala event, but it's still unclear why the team would bother to attend Doctor Doom and Victorious' upcoming wedding, or why they'd even be invited. It's possible something will happen at the gala to prompt a higher opinion from Victorious, but the preview ends with a flashback to Ben, Reed, and Victor's days at State University, suggesting the answers are as likely to lie in the past as the future.
Hitting physical and digital retailers May 11, Fantastic Four #32 - from Dan Slott, R.B. Silva, Jesus Aburtov and Joe Caramagna - begins an epic story that Marvel has promised will tear the Fantastic Four apart. But whether that will be down to the team's own internal politics or the influence of Doctor Doom himself waits to be seen.