Stan Lee Explains Why Doctor Doom Isn't a Villain

In any list of Marvel's greatest villains, there's always one that stands above the rest. It's not Ultron, or Kang the Conqueror, or the Red Skull, or even Thanos the Mad Titan. It's Victor Von Doom, ruler of Latveria, nemesis of the Fantastic Four and threat to the entire Marvel Universe. Currently, Doom is suiting up as Infamous Iron Man, but it wasn't long ago that he was God-Emperor of Battleworld, oppressing not just the heroes of Marvel's Earth-616, but the entire multiverse.

However, Doom's co-creator, Stan Lee, doesn't think he's a villain at all.

During a recent interview with 14-year-old leukemia survivor, and Marvel super-fan, KJ Ricci, Lee was asked who his favorite villain was, and he gave the easy answer: Doctor Doom. His rationale, though, is fascinating.

“Everybody has Doctor Doom misunderstood,” Lee said. “Everybody thinks he's a criminal, but all he wants is to rule the world. Now, if you really think about it objectively, you could walk up to a policeman, and you could say, 'Excuse me, officer, I want to tell you something: I want to rule the world.' He can't arrest you; it's not a crime to want to rule the world. So […] it's unfair that he's considered a villain, because he just wants to rule the world. Then maybe he could do a better job of it. So I'm very interested in Doctor Doom, and I'd like to clear his name.”

So there you have it: Stan Lee is out to redeem Victor Von Doom. The rest of the interview brings up some other interesting perspectives, with the 93-year-old comics legend putting to rest the age-old argument about who would win in a fight between the Incredible Hulk and Thor.

Spoiler: It's the Mighty Thor, because although the Hulk is strong, Thor is immortal.

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