—Emperor DoomNothing can save you, save for the enlightened rule of a single person who can make the hard choices. One who is above being bribed, being corrupted, who does not care about petty comforts that confound other men. Doom is above money. Doom is above desire. Doom is above all. And in his magnanimity, in his pity, in his greatness...Doom will save you.
Appearing in "Chapter One: The Exercise of Power"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
- Alicia Masters
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green)
- Brain Drain (Werner Schmidt)
- Nancy Whitehead
- Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
Antagonists:
- Emperor Doom (Victor von Doom) (First appearance as Emperor Doom)
- Hydra
- Baron Zemo (Helmut Zemo) (Death)
- Dinosaur Doctor Doom
Other Characters:
- United Nations
- Admiral Akhemtov (Voice only) (Death)
- Zefiro Clan (Referenced)
- Aunt Petunia (Mentioned)
- Baron Strucker (Mentioned)
- Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) (Mentioned) (Deceased)
- Nazis (Mentioned)
- God (Invoked)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth (First appearance as United Latveria)
Items:
- Doctor Doom's Armor
- Eye of Agamotto
- Cloak of Levitation
- Servo-Guards
- Captain Marvel's Suit
- Iron Man Armor Model 74
- Captain America's Uniform
- Captain America's Shield
- Captain America's Wings
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Spider-Man's Suit
- Black Widow's Gauntlets
- Mjolnir
- Doombot (Destruction)
Vehicles:
- Invisible Plane (First appearance)
- Hydra Flying Island
Events:
- Blood Hunt (Mentioned)
- World War II (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Chapter One: The Exercise of Power"
Six months after secluding Latveria from the world, Doctor Doom emerges at the United Nations building to deliver a public address that he will save everyone on Earth. He claims that the entire planet is under his authority after he convinced every world leader willingly to swear fealty to Doom and every nation is now a province of a unified Earth, which he dubs "United Latveria." Doom reassures the public that his rule would be magnanimous in which the nations will continue to rule so long they follow two edicts: First, all wars are outlawed to ensure a new peace under his reign which he calls the Pax Victoris. Second, all people, who are now citizens of United Latveria, are given free access to universal health care and elite-tier education.
After Doom delivered his edicts, he acknowledges that there are already "rogue elements" plotting against his rule in which he preemptively sends his Doombots to eliminate his opposers. With these "minor" uprisings dealt with, Doom makes it clear of his intent to uphold his Pax Victoris.
Following Doom's address, the Avengers and Fantastic Four have gathered to discuss Earth's sudden fealty to Doom. They speculate on whether the world leaders are replaced by Doom's robots or under mind control by his magic as Sorcerer Supreme. Scarlet Witch, however, confirms that she doesn't detect any magical influence. Everyone is contacted by the Black Widow who reports that Baron Zemo is leading Hydra forces to attack Latveria.
Zemo makes a world-wide address by overriding Doom's global broadcast and announces that he and Hydra will never allow themselves to be ruled by Doom, and are already at the Latverian border where they have the technology to penetrate the nation's magical barrier, swearing to end Doom's reign. Soon after Zemo finishes his address, Black Widow loses contact with the Avengers and FF due to the barrier's magical nature. Bewildered by the turn of events, the heroes decide to travel to Latveria and deal with both Zemo and Doom.
Traveling by an invisible airliner conjured by the Invisible Woman, the heroes arrive at the outskirts of Latveria and meet up with Natasha. Soon after they arrive, Zemo suddenly makes another broadcast while standing peacefully with Doom. He proclaims that he is wrong and Doom is doing what is best for the world, and he is convinced to ally with Doom. Zemo then orders all Hydra forces to focus on implementing Doom's altruistic agenda such as building schools and hospitals, and clearing land mines from contaminated areas. The heroes are left incredulous of Zemo's sudden turn and presume he is under Doom's magical mind control. Reed Richards traces Zemo’s transmission to a Hydra Flying City which is floating near Latveria. The heroes split up in which some stay to find a way into Latveria while the others assault the Hydra base and capture Zemo.
The heroes attacking the base fight their way through Hydra forces before finally confronting Zemo. Captain America quickly identifies Zemo as a Doombot after the facsimile failed to recognize the date for Hydra's foundation. Reed accesses the Doombot's recording and everyone learns that the real Zemo was killed by Doom who then had him replaced. Now they have evidence that Doom is lying about being a benign tyrant, Iron Man uses Zemo's broadcast override and reveals the public about Doom's deception, stating that the Latverian leader will kill anyone who gets in his way.
But upon hearing Zemo's death, Hydra forces, who are in the middle of their humanitarian operations, are left furious by the deception and vent their anger by attacking civilians on sight. When some Hydra agents attempt to kill some civilians, Doom arrives atop his dinosaur counterpart from another universe to kill the restless Hydra agents. While eliminating them, Doom gives another speech to the world that he did deceive everyone about Hydra, but he will not apologize for it. He reveals that he not only killed Zemo but also the Red Skull months ago, and he has no regrets for killing them because they were unrepentant Nazis and racists who are a problem that could not be dealt with, not even by Earth’s heroes, until now. His plan to reform Hydra, while influenced by a "slight deception," had good intentions but he claims the Avengers and their allies had completely undone this because they could not stand him succeeding where they failed.
The heroes realize they have played into Doom's hands because he knew they would eventually attack him and uncover the truth, and he succeeds in convincing the public to see him as their hero.
Solicit Synopsis
ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM!
Six months ago, Doctor Victor Von Doom became Sorcerer Supreme – then disappeared behind Latveria’s closed borders. For most, there’s enough going on in the world that Doom’s absence is not a priority, and some time without him feels like a blessing. Only a few recognize it for what it truly was…the calm before the storm. It is a storm that has now arrived. The world has woken up to a new reality: Doctor Doom, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, has magically taken over every broadcast medium on the planet and declared himself Emperor of the World – the ruler of a new United Latveria! And shockingly, impossibly, all of Earth’s leaders seem to be going along with this. Luckily, whether it’s mind control or Doombots, whatever’s affecting them hasn’t affected Earth’s heroes – and so they quickly form a strike team to stop Doom’s machinations.
But will they succeed? And what happens when some begin to welcome their new Emperor with open arms, clamoring for One World Under Doom? Marvel’s biggest and most shocking event ever begins right here with ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #1.Notes
- This issue was originally solicited as Rise of Emperor Doom #1.
- Captain America recalls destroying the previous Hydra Flying Island in Captain America (Vol. 6) #18.
- Ben Grimm's "itza long story" reaction to the T-Rex Doctor Doom refers to the events in Fantastic Four (Vol. 7) #12-13.
