Howard Stern might have accidentally revealed he’s part of a Marvel Cinematic Universe project involving Doctor Doom — the biggest enemy of the Fantastic Four. In a recent episode of the Howard Stern Show, Stern casually commented on the nightmare of getting ready to be part of Doctor Doom, teasing that the fan-favorite supervillain might be making his MCU debut sooner than later.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for 1962’s The Fantastic Four #5, Doctor Doom is the supervillain monicker of Viktor Von Doom, the ruthless dictator of the fictional nation of Latveria. Due to his immense political reach, Doctor Doom is a major player in the international superhero game. Viktor is also a brilliant scientist capable of creating fabulous inventions and a master of mystic arts who’s second only to Doctor Strange. Doom is a formidable villain that was unfortunately never fully explored in the two live-action Fantastic Four iterations created by Fox, the first with Julian McMahon as the villain and the second with Toby Kebbell taking over the role.
Since Marvel Studios is currently developing a new Fantastic Four movie, fans were eager to see the MCU’s take on Doctor Doom. And with Stern revealing there’s a Doom-centric project of some kind in pre-production, it looks like Marvel Studios is finally giving the villain his deserved place in the spotlight. However, it would be unlikely that Stern would be chosen to play one of Marvel’s most prominent villains in a live-action production, given that the celebrity doesn’t have many acting credits under his belt. Besides that, Stern’s wording about the project sheds some doubt about what the production could really be. In his words:
“They're going over the schedule with me, and it's going to suck... I told you, I'm going to do Doctor Doom. That's the thing. But believe me, I'm fucking miserable about it... I called Robert Downey Jr. and I was asking him acting techniques... Do you have a number for Jon [Favreau]?”
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The way Stern talks about it, he could be playing Doctor Doom, but not necessarily in a big live-action MCU film. With Marvel Studios currently developing a second season of What If..?, the animated series would be a risk-free environment to make Doctor Doom’s MCU debut before bringing him to live-action. And in that case, Stern's vast experience on the radio would make him a fitting voice actor. It could also be that Stern was chosen to dub the villain in a narrative podcast, a video game, or another Marvel production that's not directly tied to the MCU. Finally, Stern could also be playing a different character in a Doctor Doom project instead of the big baddie himself.
Be it as it may, it’s interesting to see Marvel is developing something related to Doctor Doom. It’s not unusual for Marvel to reignite a character in comic books or other side projects before they cross into the MCU. So, even if the Doctor Doom project Stern mentioned is not a big movie, the sudden focus on the villain is still good news for fans.
So far, little is known about the MCU Phase 5. Besides a series of Disney+ TV shows currently in development and a couple of movies set to release in theaters in the next couple of years, the only recent Marvel Studios announcement is a reported film adaptation of the Thunderbolts. However, earlier this year, the MCU producer Kevin Feige went on a retreat to plan the next decade of Marvel Studios productions. And since Feige will be back at SDCC this year with big announcements, it won’t be long until we learn what Marvel Studios is cooking in secret.
