Even the comic legend Stan Lee had his favorites among the ranks of Marvel. For his favorite villain, he chose a legendary character, but he does not believe that she is truly a villain.
Who is Stan Lee’s favorite villain? Stan Lee was not just a cameo in countless Marvel movies, but a legendary comic author. Even after his death in 2018, he still belongs to most fans as the face of Marvel.
Stan Lee naturally had his own favorites as well. In 2016, he was asked who his favorite villain in the Marvel universe is. He answered with Doctor Doom, whom he does not actually see as a villain. He justified this rather absurdly.
It is unfair that he is considered a villain
What did Stan Lee say about Doctor Doom? In November 2016, Stan Lee conducted a short interview with then 14-year-old KJ Ricci, who survived leukemia. You can listen to the interview on the Cat Country YouTube channel.
During the interview, the boy asked him some questions, including which villain is his favorite. Stan Lee names Doctor Doom and justifies:
Everyone has misunderstood Doctor Doom. Everyone thinks he is a criminal, but he just wants to rule the world. If one looks at it quite objectively, one could go to a policeman and say: “Excuse me, officer, I want to tell you something: I want to rule the world.” He can’t arrest you; wanting to rule the world is not a crime.
So […] it is unfair that he is considered a villain, because he just wants to rule the world. Perhaps he could even make it better. That’s why I am very interested in Doctor Doom.
Stan Lee on Doctor Doom
Is Doctor Doom really misunderstood? Fundamentally, Stan Lee is probably right that the desire to rule the world is not, in itself, a crime, but what Doom would do for it certainly is. His malice varies from author to author, but his comic history paints him strongly as a villain.
His hatred for Mister Fantastic and his need for control already make him a bastard
in the Marvel universe. To illustrate this, we briefly list some of his actions:
- He sacrificed his great love to preserve his armor.
- He locked Mister Fantastic’s young son in hell.
- In his country Latveria, he rules as a dictator and often uses his political immunity to commit crimes all over the world.
In his defense, one must say that he has also done good deeds. For example, he saved Sue Storm during the birth of Valeria. Furthermore, he wants to ensure that his people in Latveria are well off, even though every dictator would claim the same.
Doctor Doom is thus not the pure evil
, but he often acts out of his own selfishness, and to achieve his goals, he stops at nothing. Despite Stan Lee’s arguments, one could probably describe Doctor Doom as a real villain. Stan Lee also had a favorite among DC: Marvel legend Stan Lee had a favorite character from DC that hardly anyone knows
