I think evil Iron Man is a great idea, rife with amazing possibilities.
What comic book fans, and often the studios who make comic book movies, forget is that what works in a comic book rarely translates directly to the big screen. One of the most brilliant things the MCU did was to tone down the costumes of most of the heroes. Lurid drawings with bright colors and flashy costumes are perfect in a comic, especially one aimed at a child, because you never stop to imagine how that would play out in real life. If you want hundreds of thousands of grown-ups to pay to see your movie, you have to tone down the childish elements. That's why Loki looks like Tom Hiddleston in a suit and not the outlandish character drawn by Kirby, Heck, Sinnott and the rest. Thor, too, was given a subdued costume, and everyone, even Spider-Man and Iron Man, took on a muted color palette.
There's a reason almost everyone laughs when they watch the 1994 Fantastic Four movie, and it's because it is aimed at an 8-year-old. Most all adults are too intelligent and sophisticated to be drawn into something so simple, and any faithful adaptation of a comic is going to fail for that reason, unless it is created specifically as a film for kids.
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AP (5288)
4 months ago
Using the 1994 FF movie as a reason why Dr. Doom can’t work is a bad argument.
That movie was never even meant to be released. It was made for copyright purposes and it just so happened to end up on bootlegs. Dr. Doom can absolutely work in live action.
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FilmBuff (7235)
4 months ago
Of course he can work. I'm not saying that at all. My point is that he'll work if they make him interesting, engaging, and threatening yet understandable. Comic book Dr. Doom just did evil things to be evil. He wanted wealth and power. That's a recipe for a boring film. They need to make him someone we can understand, even if we're rooting against him, like Loki for example. That's the genius of casting Downey. He can give us a Doom that is multi-layered, flawed yet someone we can empathize with, and ultimately a villain whose defeat will truly satisfy the audience, a la Thanos.
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AP (5288)
4 months ago
Comic Dr. Doom has never “just done evil things”. He’s always had a noble side.
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FilmBuff (7235)
4 months ago
Go back to the beginning and you'll see he was a power-mad guy out to steal money and be bad. He later evolved into something more nuanced.
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AP (5288)
4 months ago
His first appearance had him sending the FF through time. Sure, the 60s could be silly but he was always out to rule the works and kill Reed.
You are right that he became nuanced later but we’re still talking the 80s with Walt Simonson and John Byrne turning out some of the greatest Doom stories that turned him into one of the greatest comic villains of all time. He’s up there with Magento and Thanos and deserves to have a proper live action version.
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