The title has always been Doom’s obsession. On November 4, Marvel hands him a book whose only purpose is letting him fight for it.
Tucked into Marvel’s November solicitations is a first look at Challenges of Doom: Doctor Strange #1, a one-shot written by Al Ewing and drawn by Christian Rosado. The Challenges of Doom line pits the Latverian monarch against his greatest enemies and rivals, and the name on the other side of the marquee this round is Stephen Strange.
Marvel’s synopsis, in full, reads:
“SORCERER VS. SORCERER!
Two of history’s most skilled practitioners of magic: DOCTOR DOOM faces DOCTOR STRANGE in a battle metaphysical, physical, current, future, past… encompassing the enormous realms of their intellect and ability! These incredible foes will go to the limits of their powers and beyond to determine who is truly the greatest sorcerer — but what else will be revealed in the process?!”
Why Doom takes this personally
As Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, Strange ranks among the most formidable magic users in the Marvel Universe — the one who stands between the world and magical threats on the order of Dormammu and Nightmare. Nobody is simply given that title. It has to be earned, and the frequency and duration with which Strange has held it says everything about how good he is.
Doom’s own command of magic is considerable. Yet sorcery was never the goal for him; it was an instrument, a means of prying his mother’s soul loose from Mephisto, and that one fixation drove his studies past where most sorcerers ever reach.
There’s also bloodline to consider: Doom descends from a long line of magic users, while Strange does not. Stack that heritage on top of Doom’s arrogance and the grudge has actual roots — in his mind the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme belongs to him by right, and forever finishing second to a man with no magical ancestry has soured into something intimate.
He already took it once
The villain got his wish back in 2024’s One World Under Doom, conning Strange into surrendering the title, claiming Sorcerer Supreme for himself, and turning that power into global conquest.
The heroes shut it down — but the mantle never returned to Strange. It went to the Scarlet Witch instead, leaving Stephen as Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard.
Marvel, to be clear, isn’t marketing the one-shot as a rematch. It doesn’t need to. Whether or not the solicitation acknowledges it, that storyline looms over every page.
The word “past” is doing a lot of work here
Per Marvel’s solicitation, the clash will span “past, present and future,” which sounds less like choreography for a brawl and more like a dig site. Settling One World Under Doom is only part of it. This is the entire rivalry, from the foundations up.
Worth underlining is that final clause: “but what else will be revealed in the process.” The plot details Marvel put out suggest the issue will reach back through both men’s histories and could surface new truths about them.
Which leaves the question the solicitation is practically daring readers to ask. What are the two of them keeping from each other, and what’s about to surface?
Two covers, two very different moods
Two covers were also unveiled: one from Fabrizo De Tommaso and one from Peach Momoko. Anyone familiar with Momoko’s style can already guess how far her take on a Doom-Strange confrontation will sit from a conventional superhero cover.
It’s been done before, and done well
Putting these two in a room together isn’t a new idea. Roger Stern and Mike Mignola did it in 1989 with Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, a story in which the pair struck an uneasy alliance to liberate the soul of Victor’s mother.
Naturally, Doom betrayed Strange before it was over. In doing so he demonstrated precisely why the Sorcerer Supreme title can never stay in his hands for long. Ability alone doesn’t cover the job. The heart has to be in the right place too.
Triumph and Torment now carries modern-classic status, which means Ewing and Rosado are writing and drawing in its shadow. Those are big shoes, and fair or not, every review is going to make the comparison.
Reed Richards has competition
Reed remains Doom’s number-one nemesis; there’s no arguing that. Still, Strange has a legitimate claim to second place, and it’s the more compelling one, since Reed embodies everything Doom fell short of while Strange embodies what Doom was supposedly destined for and lost anyway.
Recent stories have put both characters through the wringer. This one-shot serves as the culmination of those arcs, so it’s hauling far more than a fight.
How things stand by the last page is anybody’s guess. Even if Stephen never gets his revenge, the sheer scope justifies the cover price, and the spectacle could end up defining both men.
Challenges of Doom: Doctor Strange #1 arrives November 4 from Marvel Comics.