Warning! This article contains spoilers for Avengers #53
The face hidden beneath the mask of Doctor Doom has been revealed to be more horrifying than fans could ever imagine. While the precise nature of Doctor Doom’s alleged deformity remains a mystery, it isn’t the physical appearance of Doctor Doom’s face that makes it horrific. Rather, it is the impact Doctor Doom’s real face has on the psyche of anyone who looks upon it. What was once viewed as one of Doctor Doom’s only flaws has now become one of his greatest strengths and actually grants him a power greater than that of another fear-inducing Marvel Comics character.
In Avengers #53 by Jason Aaron and Juan Frigeri, an alternate version of Doctor Doom who has become a master of the dark arts infiltrates Earth-616 and begins attacking the Avengers. While he uses his magic to destroy the Avengers’ Celestial corpse facility, further explanation is given as to the nature of his powers. One aspect of Doom’s abilities include draining the life force from living organisms to power his magic, and another is the power to make anyone who looks upon his real face descend into madness.
In the description of this Doctor Doom variant, fans are given a clear understanding of this new monstrous power. The description reads, “Behind that mask, his scars are such a hellish sight that to look upon them brings shrieking madness to anything with eyes and a living soul.” This ability is a new one within Doctor Doom’s arsenal as his face has never been a source of power. This version of Doom, the Doom Above All, has turned the original’s greatest insecurity into perhaps his greatest strength as his face has the power to mentally cripple any living thing with eyes and a soul no matter how powerful that enemy might be. Based on those parameters, Doctor Doom would make quick work of incredibly formidable foes including Thanos or even Galactus. In fact, this power is one that is eerily similar to that of another Marvel Comics character with a very significant upgrade.
The Doom Above All’s newly revealed ability is reminiscent of Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare. When Ghost Rider uses the Penance Stare to look deep into the eyes of those who know they have committed sins, it burns their souls with the end result being their complete immobilization. The only problem is that the Penance Stare doesn’t always work on even some of the worst villains if they have no sense of morality and view their evil actions as some twisted version of doing what they believe is right. Plus, those who are actually genuinely good can never be impacted by the Penance Stare, making it much less versatile than the power held by Doctor Doom.
While both the Penance Stare and the power held by Doom’s real face yield the same result when used, the parameters of the Penance Stare make it a weaker ability than the one wielded by Doom. As far as fans know, the original Doctor Doom doesn’t share this particular power with the Doom Above All, though Doom has proven time and again that nothing is impossible if he sets his mind to it. If one Doom can do it then the original would absolutely be able to reach this level of power if he wanted to. Doctor Doom’s real face is more horrifying than fans realize as it holds a power that makes anyone who looks upon it go completely insane.
