#doctor doom is not a vehicle for the mcu to pull a stunt casting soulless attempt at a cash grab.. frustrating

[doomrichards]

Joseph Culp as Dr. Doom in The Fantastic Four

I've been seeing mentions of Doom getting white-washed for the fourth time: Fantastic Four (1994) - Joseph Culp, Fantastic Four (2005-2007) - Julian McMahon, Fantastic Four (2015) - Toby Kebbell, and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars (2027) - Robert Downey Jr. I wanted to share Mr. Culp's interview on his performance Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four movie, whose budget was 2 million dollars. He realized the responsibility he had as the first time any actor was going to play Dr. Doom on screen, and gave the comic books their due, investing in Victor's backstory not mentioned in the script, including his Romani background and the loss of his mother, Cynthia von Doom. That background ties directly into the persecution which Victor and his family faced in his country driving his need for power and control and to fulfill his destiny as ruler. It makes him DR. DOOM. Three decades later and the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its 80 million dollar salary to a stunt casting that white-washes and subsumes Dr. Doom's character with Iron Man's actor and its associations is an insult. Joseph Culp put an operatic, Shakespearean take on Doctor Doom and carried him with the gravitas due, as well as knowing how important his relationship to Reed Richards is--that of a wounded lover.

Source: josephculp.com

Transcript under cut.

INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH CULP FOR FANSITE VICTORVONDOOM.COM by Joshua Hicks (2008) First off your performance as both Victor and Doctor Doom felt very genuine. What type of preparation did you do for the film? After I was cast in the role, I started by going back through all the issues of Doom in the comic books and I realized just how important a task this was. This would be the first time any actor was going to play Dr. Doom on screen, so I got more excited and also realized what a responsibility I had to try to do something that would honor the glory and grandeur of the character. There were limitations of time and budget, and so much came down to what I could do without special effects. . I definitely wanted to capture his classical style, the villainous "panache", in his voice and physicality, but I also wanted to know what kind of inner life drove him. Doom is right up there with some of the classic archetypal villains who are filled with contradictions: The gifts of genius, the lust for control and power, but the desire to be loved. I invested a lot in Victor's backstory, even if it wasn't mentioned in the script. The loss of his g---- mother, the desire to contact her through mystic arts, the need to fulfill a destiny as the rightful ruler of his country. I wanted to show in the beginning scenes with Reed, that he had a softer side and even valued the friendship, which later his madness transformed to bitterness and feelings of betrayal. Not all these ideas are supported by the comic, but I felt they would give a fuller human picture. I wanted to try to bring out some of his pain and suffering even as he pursued power and the destruction of others. I also saw a wicked sense of humor in the comics, (as is befitting a tortured genius!), so I wanted to give him moments to tease, be sarcastic and enjoy his power, reveling in some moments of explosive mad laughter. But if you listen, the laughter is also full of rage and sorrow as well. In preparation, I remember spending some time in a ski-mask to see what feelings would emerge from living in a "mask" and armor. The sense of affliction, imprisonment, of not being truly seen, and also permission and power. Lots of improvisation, physical and vocal exercises and finding my own personal link to the extreme qualities of this character.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━���━━━━ DOOMSAYER Magazine Article

Actor Joseph Culp puts a Shakespearean twist on the FF's arch nemesis, Doctor Doom. [Picture of Doom taking off the mask to reveal dark curls and a handsome face with a small scar by Jack Kirby]

This never-before-published drawing of Doctor Doom reveals that the vain villain wore a mask to hide just one tiny scar. Doom was for me an operatic dip into my own latent sadomasochistic tendencies," says the intense actor. And Joseph Culp means it. When pressed to talk a little about his personal life, he refers to himself as one of Doom's "impersonators." Culp, who grew up in California, had starring roles in Dream Lover and Monte Hellman's Iguana. However, his role of Doctor Doom is one that he takes very seriously. "As a kid, the FF was probably the only comic I really cared about." In this journalist's opinion, genre actors are not as appreciated as dramatic actors. In science fiction, fantasy and horror, the actors are expected to bring believability to unbelievable characters and impossible situations. There was no doubt in Culp's mind that he was up to the task. "I have some Shakespearean training. Doom is a very operatic character, a glorious tyrant king. This was a very challenging role because I was incarcerated in an iron suit most of the time, which was very grueling, frustrating and maddening." Does Culp have any interesting body scars himself? "I got a scar on the crook of my left leg from wearing the suit. It dug into me suppose my motivation could have been brought on by actual pain during the performance." Doctor Doom has never been unmasked in the comics. However, Jack Kirby's interpretation of the face behind the iron mask is that Victor Von Doom hides only one tiny facial scar because he is so vain. Culp offers his own insight. "Doom is a narcissist to the extreme. I believe he is completely scarred and mutilated. Being such a brilliant scientist, he could certainly reconstruct his face. But he chose to keep his scars as a living testament to his vengeance on the world and, specifically, Reed Richards.

"With Doom you really can't go too far. He's a raging ego and a wounded lover."' -Joseph Culp, the actor playing Doctor Doom [Picture of Victor von Doom during college in the Fantastic Four (1994) movie] Above: Joseph Culp plays Victor, Reed Richards's college buddy who falls victim to a terrible accident. Right: Culp as the operatic Doom. "Reed stands for everything Doom wishes he could have acceptance from the world, good looks, a sexy girlfriend. He's very envious of Reed and felt betrayed when their experiment went awry. He always wanted to be Reed's best friend, and when everything went wrong and he nearly died in the experiment, Reed went on to collect all the laurels that he might have had. So there's a lot of jealousy involved in his relationship. I think that deep down he actually loves Reed Richards. The person you love the most is the one you hate the most. Doom's inner sorrow and frustration-a kind of unbridled psychotic rage-propels him to do the things he does." Culp ends our conversation with a very serious diatribe on the depths of the demented Doctor. "Remember that Doom is all that we wish to be and all that we cannot face. From the depths of our fear he is the towering Freudian id. With Doom you really can't go too far. He's a raging ego and a wounded lover."