Marvel’s Biggest Villain Is A Star Trek Fan
Spider-Man is often assumed to be the biggest pop-culture nerd in the Marvel universe. But while Peter Parker may claim that title on Earth-616, bigger geeks exist elsewhere in the multiverse. Doctor Doom, for instance, reigns as the geek supreme in the world of Marvel’s Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet—at least as far as Star Trek is concerned.
From The Retelling Of A Classic
Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet is a 2010 retelling of the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline from the ’90s. The series was part of the “Marvel Adventures” line of books explicitly created to get kids into comics. Eight years before Avengers: Infinity War would bring Thanos and his quest to wipe out half of existence to the masses, Marvel decided to rework the story for younger readers, making Doctore Doom a Trekkie in the process.
Doctor Doom Is Never Wrong
Doom first displays an interest in Star Trek during the events of Marvel’s Avengers & the Infinity Gauntlet 2, published September 15th, 2010. The issue occurs after Thanos snaps away half of the universe, causing a new team of Avengers to assemble and take off into outer space after him. Giddy over his first intergalactic adventure, Spider-Man exclaims, “Warp Factor 9 Mr. Spock!” To which Doctor Doom, Marvel’s megalomaniacal Star Trek fan, responds: “Sulu.”
“What?” asks a puzzled Spidey. “Sulu set their speed,” Doom answers curtly. With that correction, Doctor Doom reveals himself to be an even bigger Star Trek fan than Marvel’s resident dork. Although, to be fair, this version of Spider-Man is probably too young to have watched the original Star Trek.
Teenage Spider-Man Gets Schooled
Unlike 616 Spidy, who hasn’t been in high school since the ’60s, Avengers & the Infinity Gauntlet, Spidey is still a teenager. Considering that Marvel set the comic in the modern day, that would make Star Trek: The Original Series a relic of the past. A relic Doctor Doom has no qualms about taking ownership of.
Doctor Doom Could Be More Pedantic
Even funnier than Doctor Doom schooling Spider-Man is the next panel, where he complains about it to Captain Marvel and Wolverine. “Hey did you know Dr. Doom is a big nerd who watches Star Trek?” asks Marvel’s Wallcrawler. Wolverine immediately responds by growling at him to “Sit down!”
Eagle-eyed Trekkies will notice that Spider-Man’s initial comment contains another mistake. According to the modern warp scale, the original Enterprise couldn’t even hit Warp 9, a fact that Doom is nice enough not to mention. Perhaps Marvel’s biggest baddie felt like he embarrassed Parker enough by pointing out the first Star Trek flub.
Disney’s Spider-Man Is A Star Wars Guy
Chances are the Spider-Man of Avengers & the Infinity Gauntlet is more of a Star Wars guy like his MCU counterpart. It would make sense since Disney owns Marvel and Star Wars and has no stake whatsoever in Star Trek. Not that being inept at Star Trek trivia automatically makes him a Star Wars fan, but with most nerds, it’s one of the other.
Sadly, Doctor Doom has yet to display a love for Star Trek anywhere else in the multiverse, but that could change now that the character is coming to the MCU. As we’ve already established, Spider-Man is Marvel’s resident Star Wars fan in the movie universe, leaving Star Trek wide open for Doom.
Regardless, we hope to see this side of Doom again in at least some capacity.
