SDCC | Doom takes his rightful place at the top of the Marvel food chain

Readers of Marvel’s Blood Hunt know that Doctor Doom is up to something, and in San Diego today Marvel gave us a glimpse of what’s to come for the Latverian monarch and his plans for the entire Marvel Universe.

One World Under Doom is described as a new “status quo” for the 616, and it’ll feature … well, something that’s a spoiler for the finale of Blood Hunt, but some of us have already seen it coming.

But hey, SPOILERS AHOY …

The fourth issue of Blood Hunt showed Doctor Doom offering to help Doctor Strange and Clea with the world’s vampire problem — if Doctor Strange was willing to hand over the mantle of sorcerer supreme to him. Well, it appears that Stephen Strange will make that deal, based on what Marvel announced today. The above image is pretty telling, and the description of what’s going to be happening in Amazing Spider-Man after Zeb Wells leaves the title confirms it:

The 8 deaths of Spider-Man begin! The world has changed, Doctor Doom is Sorcerer Supreme, but he has no plans to spend his time like his predecessor… Each year, Doctor Strange would use every ounce of his power and experience to save the world from an evil god and his scions. This year, Doom is delegating this task to… Spider-Man?! The leader of Latveria has given Spider-Man a new, magic powered suit and eight extra lives with which to save (!?) the world. True believer, they won’t be enough…

Dubbed the “8 Deaths of Spider-Man,” the new storyline begins in Amazing Spider-Man #61 this November, by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. Here’s the cover by McGuinness for that issue:

… and here’s the cover for #62, which also comes out in November:

…and finally, here’s the design sheet for the new suit, courtesy of McGuinness:

So what else will Doom get up to in his new role? The teaser image has a whole lot of characters in it, so expect to see developments in other titles as well. Blood Hunt #5 comes out next week.