Doctor Doom has made three live-action appearances so far, but he has still yet to show off most of the powers he can use in Marvel Comics.

Doctor Doom has appeared in every live-action Fantastic Four movie so far, but none of them have ever fully captured what makes him one of Marvel’s greatest villains. This could be in part due to the sheer number of powers Doctor Doom has in Marvel Comics. Doctor Doom uses magic similar to Doctor Strange, meaning he often gets new powers in the comics when it fits the story. He also uses high-tech armor like Iron Man, meaning he has many gadgets.

While it’s forgivable that live-action versions wouldn’t touch on every power Doctor Doom has, it is still surprising how few of them have been shown in previous movies. If Doctor Doom makes his MCU debut in The Fantastic Four, hopefully, he will bring some more of his powers with him. Having more of his powers from the comics would help make him a major threat in the MCU and be able to challenge more than just The Fantastic Four.

Note: This list only covers theatrically released Fantastic Four movies, not the unreleased 1994 movie.

10. Doctor Doom Shoots Magic, Not Just Electricity

This Power Is Demonstrated In Various Issues Of Marvel Comics

The first Fantastic Four movie focused largely on Doctor Doom’s ability to control electricity. While this is a power he has in Marvel Comics, it extends far beyond what was shown in the movies. Doom’s electricity powers are an extension of his ability to absorb energy and shoot it back out. The origins of these powers are also very different in the comics than in the movies.

In Fantastic Four, Doom gets his powers from the same cosmic force that gives The Fantastic Four their powers. Doom in the 2015 Fantastic Four got his powers from the energy on Planet Zero. In the comics, Doom’s powers are supernatural in origin. Doctor Doom learned magic from a combination of monks and from Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend, one of Marvel’s most powerful supernatural villains. This makes Doom a major threat to most heroes since he can cast a variety of spells, not just shoot lightning or use telekinesis like in the movies.

9. Doctor Doom Can Generate His Own Force Fields Without Planet Zero

This Power Is Demonstrated In The Champions #16 (1977)

In Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom mostly uses telekinetic powers that he gains from Planet Zero. The energy from the planet also allows him to create force fields. In contrast, Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics created his own powerful force field that is part of his armor. Early comics often show Doom openly bragging about how well he designed the force field and mocking heroes for trying to get past it.

The force field is shown to be pretty strong, able to stop a punch from The Thing. Doom’s force field has also been shown repelling a barrage of missiles from Iron Man and even a tank that is thrown at him by Magneto in The Champions #16 by Bill Mantlo and Bob Hall. Doom’s force field is a reminder that he isn’t just skilled at the mystical arts but is also a genius inventor similar to his rival Reed Richards.

8. Doctor Doom Learned To Switch Minds With Other People

This Power Is Demonstrated In Fantastic Four #10 (1962)

Early in the history of The Fantastic Four, it was revealed that Doctor Doom learned how to switch minds with anyone he could make eye contact with. He learned this power from a group of oval-headed aliens known as Ovoids in one of their very few appearances in Marvel Comics. Doom has used this power to great effect, switching bodies with members of The Fantastic Four both to fight them and to confuse them.

Much like the Ovoids who taught Doom the ability, this power hasn’t been seen in a little while. Doctor Doom hasn’t used this power often in modern comics. While Fantastic Four #407 by Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan claims this is because Doom prefers to stay in his own body, it’s more likely that Marvel just realized this was far too strong of a power to give to one of their most formidable supervillains.

7. Doctor Doom Controls His Doombots With His Mind

This Power Is Demonstrated In Fantastic Four #536 (2006)

One aspect of Doctor Doom that the first Fantastic Four movie skated over was the fact that he was an inventor like Reed Richards. While the movie pays lip service to this, it doesn’t show Doom creating anything. The 2015 Fantastic Four at least acknowledges Doom’s skill with technology, but when he gets his powers, they are all out of his control. In contrast, the Doctor Doom of the comics has many inventions that he uses as part of his villainy, including his Doombots.

Doombots are Doctor Doom’s mechanical minions and serve as lower-level cannon fodder for the most part. One interesting aspect of them is that Doctor Doom can actually control them with his mind. In fact, Marvel Team-Up #44 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema revealed Doom has some level of telepathic control over all machines.

6. Doctor Doom Has Summoned Creatures To Help Him Before

This Power Is Demonstrated In Mighty Avengers #11 (2008)

Since both live-action Fantastic Four franchises only pit Doom against The Fantastic Four, it made sense that the movies wouldn’t feel the need to give him any power upgrades. In the comics, however, when Doom squares off against larger teams or ones with more powerful members, he will often be given an upgrade to help him stand his ground.

Mighty Avengers #11 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, and Marko Djurdjevic, is a case of Doom getting extra magical abilities to help him take on the Avengers. In this case, he was powered up by Morgan le Fay and gained the ability to summon demons. This helped him make short work of some of the most powerful Avengers, including Carol Danvers. If the MCU’s version of Doom ever goes up against a big team of heroes, he will likely be given a similar upgrade to even the odds.

5. Doctor Doom Is Super Strong In Addition To His Mystical Abilities

This Power Is Demonstrated In Amazing Spider-Man #350 (1991)

One major aspect of Doctor Doom that both live-action versions have gotten wrong is his armor. In Fantastic Four, the mask is something he just had in his office, and his skin turns metal due to the cosmic radiation. In the 2015 version, Doom’s body is encased in a hard metal substance from Planet Zero. Neither of these has nearly as much utility as his actual armor from the comics.

In the comics, Doom’s armor is something he originally forged with magic. Later, he has been shown tinkering with it using advanced technology. Similar to Iron Man’s suits, Doctor Doom’s armor enhances his natural strength quite a bit. Incredible Hulk #7 by Jason Aaron and Whilce Portacio showed Doom holding his own against the Hulk thanks to his armor. Doom also used the armor to crush a diamond in Amazing Spider-Man #350 by David Michelinie and Erik Larsen, proving just how powerful it can be.

4. Doctor Doom Can Levitate Himself

This Power Is Demonstrated In Fantastic Four #569 (2009)

In Marvel Comics, Doctor Doom has demonstrated some powerful telekinetic abilities before. While these were largely absent from the earlier Fantastic Four movies, Doom did use a fair number of them in 2015’s Fantastic Four. However, one power the movie didn’t show off was Doctor Doom’s ability to fly.

Technically, Doom’s flight is just an extension of his telekinesis; it’s just him using it to levitate himself instead of another object. This is one of the new powers Doom showed off in Fantastic Four #569 by Mark Millar, Joe Ahearne, and Stuart Immonen, when it was revealed he had returned from the dead with new magical abilities. The 2015 Fantastic Four movie did come close to showing Doom levitating himself, as he raised up a chunk of rocks beneath himself to stand in the air, but it wasn’t quite as useful as just being able to fly.

3. Doctor Doom Can Use Magic To Block A Hero’s Powers

This Power Is Demonstrated In Fantastic Four #70 (2003)

The first Fantastic Four movie showed Doctor Doom coming up with different ways to try and take out the individual members of The Fantastic Four. This meant a heat-seeking missile for the Human Torch, a chemical coolant for Mister Fantastic, and turning The Thing back into Ben Grimm. While this was an entertaining way to exploit the weaknesses of the heroes, the Marvel Comics version of Doctor Doom has shown he has a simpler solution.

When The Fantastic Four confronted Doom in hopes of saving Franklin Richards – see Fantastic Four #70 by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo – Doom showed off the full extent of his magical abilities. Perhaps the most impactful spell he casts in the issue is one that completely strips Sue, Johnny, and Reed’s powers from them. This is another ability that, while powerful, Doom doesn’t seem to use too often, likely to avoid making him too hard to defeat.

2. Doctor Doom Can Magically Heal Himself

This Power Is Demonstrated In Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #4 (2011)

One major ability Doctor Doom loses out on in the movies is his ability to heal himself using magic. Doctor Doom has been seen performing spells that can help cure wounds and has even healed other characters, like Wiccan in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #4. Although Victor can heal himself, there is one thing he has been reluctant to heal in Marvel Comics before.

When Doom was still in college with Reed Richards, his face was scarred in a horrible accident when Victor refused to listen to Reed’s advice. For a while, Doom didn’t heal the scar magically, sometimes because he thought his mask was his new face. Eventually, when Doom gained god-like powers, he ended up using magic to heal his scars and go back to looking the way he did before the accident.

1. Doctor Doom Can Manipulate Time With His Time Platform

This Power Is Demonstrated In Dark Avengers #3 (2009)

Because neither Fantastic Four franchise delved too deep into Doom’s technological skills, they never showed off one of Doom’s most powerful inventions: his Time Platform. Of course, this may also have been intentionally left out because time travel can be a tricky element to introduce in a movie, without creating a lot of issues.

In Marvel Comics, Doom is able to use the platform to transport himself and/or others back in time. Sometimes, this can be hundreds of years into the past, like in Dark Avengers #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr., where Doom and the Dark Avengers travel back in time to try and defeat Morgan le Fay.

Interestingly enough, while no live-action version of Doom has used the platform, it has appeared in the MCU. When Reed Richards arrives in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he drops out of a square portal very similar to the ones created by Doom’s platform. This may hint that a version of Doctor Doom already exists in the MCU, and it will be interesting to see if he uses the platform at all in The Fantastic Four.

Note: Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer are available to stream on Disney+. Fantastic Four(2015) is available to stream on Max.