Like most Marvel fans, we’ve spent the day here at Den of Geek poring over the first trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, looking for clues, cameos, and just enjoying seeing our favorites on the screen again. So exciting has the trailer been that it’s easy to overlook the other thing that Marvel dropped today, a new poster for the movie.
The Avengers: Doomsday poster lacks any actual Avengers. None of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Wakandans, or most of the other characters highlighted in the trailer appear. Instead, we just see Doom from behind as he ascends stairs to look at a tapestry on the wall. At the center of the tapestry is a planet, above which stand a young boy and his mother, presumably Victor Von Doom and his mother Cynthia. Certainly, Cynthia’s fate will have some meaning for the Victor we see in the movie, played by Robert Downey Jr. But for comic book fans, the sight of Cynthia Von Doom only brings to mind an all-time great story, one co-starring Doctor Strange.
Believe it or not, Cynthia Von Doom isn’t the most important figure in the life of Victor Von Doom. As much as he hates to admit it, Doom cares most about his old college roommate and arch-enemy Reed Richards, as everything he does is to prove his superiority to the Fantastic Four founder. Further, his heart forever yearns for his first love, Valeria von Frazen, after whom he named his goddaughter (and daughter of Reed and Sue—it’s complicated) and whose soul he sacrificed to gain ultimate power.
Yet, Cynthia does matter to Victor, not just because she was his mother. A Romani woman living in Latveria, Cynthia mastered the ways of magic, which drew the attention of a local baron. When Cynthia failed to heal the baron’s wife, he murdered her, sending her husband Werner and son Victor into exile. Of course, Victor would later return to Latveria to become its benevolent despot, and he would eventually follow in his mother’s footsteps as a magician after science failed him while at university in the United States. But his mother remains largely a footnote in his life, except for one memorable story.
In 1989, Marvel released the graphic novel Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, written by Roger Stern and penciled by Mike Mignola. The story flashes back to the point where Stephen Strange becomes Sorcerer Supreme, a title that comes with a requirement. To take the title, Strange must grant a boon, and the mystic triumvirate known as the Vishanti determine the boon must be given to one of Strange’s competitors for the title, Victor Von Doom.
Though loath to accept help from anyone, Doom ultimately decides to enlist Strange’s help in traveling into the Underworld. There, they will find Cynthia’s soul and free it from the demonic Mephisto, who has been keeping her captive since he tricked her in the plot that led to her death.
What follows is one of the best Doctor Strange comics ever made. Stern writes in a Bronze Age style that might be difficult for modern readers to enjoy, but it works particularly well for Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom. The two verbose characters love making dramatic declarations, as do all of the monsters and magicians they face, making for highly surreal drama.
Even better is the art by Mike Mignola. These days, Mignola is best known as the creator of Hellboy, and his love of monsters and horror are on full display in Triumph and Torment. The influence of Jack Kirby is present in Mignola’s blocky figures and his dynamic action scenes. But the strong blacks and use of negative space that would become his calling card are less pronounced, as Mignola employs light lines and a sketchier style, which pairs well with the softer inks and color washes from finisher Mark Badger. The contrast gives the story as much pathos as it does foreboding, as we can feel the sorrow weighing on Victor as he heads into the underworld to rescue his mother.
Certainly, Triumph and Torment has all the superhero action one wants from a Marvel comic. Panels of Doom and Strange blasting away demons stand up to anything you’d find in the pages of The Avengers or Fantastic Four. And while Mephisto remains a trickster who cannot be defeated through force, the comic still gives us plenty of shots of Doom and Strange battling their way through the underworld.
Yet, satisfying as the action is, it isn’t the point of Triumph and Torment. Instead, the comic serves to reframe the way we think about both characters. For Strange, it teaches him how to have humility and see beyond simple binaries of good and evil, an important lesson as he becomes Sorcerer Supreme. For Doom, it shows the fundamental sadness at the center of the character, a villain who could seem like a one-dimensional megalomaniac.
If Avengers: Doomsday can capture even a fraction of the pathos and artistry in Triumph and Torment, then it won’t just be a great superhero movie—it will be a rich film, one that stands up with the best works of the year.
Avengers: Doomsday releases in theaters on December 18, 2026.
