Fantastic Four Reminds Fans Doctor Doom Will Kill the Invisible Woman

InFantastic Four #28, written by Dan Slott and illustrated by R.B Silva and Mark Brooks, most of the team are shown their doom. In particular, Susan Richards aka the Invisible Woman is shown her demise as an elderly woman at the hands of Doctor Doom. While this might seem surprising at first, there is precedent for this vision – and it does make a great deal of sense.

In particular, Susan’s death played out in a somewhat similar fashion in Fantastic Four #561, written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, and Cam Smith. Here, a desperate Invisible Woman from a possible future kidnapped both Doom and the Human Torch to power a time machine. After the present Fantastic Four save the day, however, Doctor Doom promptly electrocutes the older Susan and declares his honor has been restored.

Like many Marvel villains, Doctor Doom can be seen as somewhat sympathetic – a (mostly) benevolent dictator who cares for his god-daughter Valerie Richards and has occasionally helped the Fantastic Four despite his ongoing feud with Reed Richards. Despite this, Doctor Doom retains a twisted sense of honor, often magnified by his own massive sense of pride. One of his biggest flaws, however, seems to be Doom’s own jealously for Reed’s family. In Secret Wars, Doom recreated reality with Susan, Franklin, and Valerie at his side. While it may be a stretch to suggest Doctor Doom is infatuated with Susan Richards, he does seem determined to possess her on several occasions.

While Doctor Doom frames his narrative as an epic battle between himself and his rival Reed, Susan might present the most persistent thorn in his side. After all, the Invisible Woman is one of the team’s most capable members. She is much more level-headed than the Thing or Human Torch while maintaining a considerably more grounded perspective than her discovery-obsessed husband. This doesn’t even take into account the extreme versatility of her powers. Thus, it’s no surprise that an elderly Susan manages to demean Doctor Doom at least twice, nor is it a surprise that both versions show Susan as one of the last surviving members of the team.

Futures are constantly being rewritten in comic book canon, but Susan’s demise at the hands of Doom is particularly haunting. In both instances, the aged Susan is mentioned as being among the last survivors of their team, all while meeting their end at the hands of her team nemesis Victor Von Doom. Whether this future remains set in stone or not, it will almost certainly have a major impact on the Fantastic Four’s Susan Richards going forward into the present.

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