Dr. Doom vs. Thanos: Who Won the Fight in Comics (& Is He Really Stronger?)

Dr. Doom and Thanos are some of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. Their horrible acts done to the universe are infamous. Dr. Doom is a sorcerer with skills matching some of the most powerful beings in the world. Thanos is an Eternal with a Deviant gene, who managed to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet and made half of the universe disappear. Who is the superior villain in the comics and who is really stronger, Dr. Doom or Thanos?

Dr. Doom won one-on-one against Thanos, he is just stronger and during their last counter in the comics, Doom was just next-level powerful. Thanos is a cosmic-level threat, but he is no match for the God Emperor Doom. Only when Reed Richards is involved, Dr. Doom can be defeated.

To justify my answer, I will write each of their powers and abilities. This is the only fair way to compare Dr. Doom and Thanos through a thorough examination of these Marvel supervillains. Both of them have done terrible things in the universe, but the last time they meet in Secret Wars in comics, one gets out victorious and one spineless. Let’s see what happens and explore a bit of what might come next in the MCU.

Dr. Doom and His Powers

Dr. Doom first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5 in July 1962, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He is the monarch of fictional Latveria. He wears his iconic iron mask and armor to hide his truth because he was scarred in an accident. Just like Thanos, he says he is working towards the greater good and betterment of humanity, by his actions say differently.

Doom is fearless and has phenomenal determination and strength of will. As I said he is a charismatic politician and leader of Latveria. His body is trained to be in peak condition just like one of the finest human athletes. He is fast, well-built, and has great reflexes. It is also said that his strength and durability could be a match for Daredevil, and he has the strength to kill a lion with his bare hands and he can wield Captain America just like Steve Rogers.

Unlike Thanos, all Dr. Doom’s powers are linked to sorcery and mystic arts. He draws his powers from Haazerth Three, and they include spell casting, summoning demons teleportation, interdimensional travel, time travel, and power absorption, just to name a few. One time when he spent millennia at the end of time, he thought himself how to use telekinesis and how to levitate himself.

Dr. Doom can transfer his mind to another human just by looking at him, and he can put someone in hypnosis. He also excels in some more grounded abilities- he is a master swordsman, he is multilingual, he is a master martial artist and good with any weapon.

Lastly, but not less important, it’s his super-genius intelligence. And some can argue this is his most valuable asset. What are all your powers and abilities good for, but you can’t use them strategically and resourcefully. For example, when he fought against Magneto, he added an antimagnetic feature to his suit to defeat him easily.

Thanos and His Powers

A few words about Thanos’s comic book origin, he is an Eternal with a Deviant gene and a warlord from the moon Titan. His first appearance came in The Invincible Iron Man #55 in 1973 and he was created by Jim Starlin.

Even though Thanos speaks in a sophisticated manner with a calm demeanor, he is a violent, malevolent, and ruthless supervillain. He doesn’t care about sacrificing planets and civilizations, even his own race to praise Death. One of his main motivations for being superior is that he felt rejected his whole life, so he tried to achieve that by being as powerful as possible through powers, and special abilities. Even without the Infinity Gauntlet, he is the most powerful Eternal.

Starting just by his Titania Eternal Physiology is the strongest Eternal, he is born with the power to synthesize cosmic energy. His natural powers are enhanced through bionic amplification and mystical enhancement.

The Mad Titan possesses superhuman strength of which full limits aren’t known, he even managed to punch away an attacking Hulk. Plus, he is almost instructible, when he was battered by a Power Gem-wielding Thor, he walked away only with a bloody nose. Not to mention, like all Eternals, he is immortal. But, he is special, not only that he is immune to all diseases and the effects of aging, he is literally banned from Death’s realm and truly immortal. He can die but always came back. For once, it not looking good for Dr. Doom.

Thanos possesses a great versatility in the manipulation and projection of energy, he can project energy as concussive force, magnetic energy, and infrared beams from his eyes. He is also a telepath and he can manipulate and control matter. Let’s not forget, that he can fly and teleport.

Just like Dr. Doom, he has super-genius intelligence, and some say it is his most dangerous ability. His intelligence is sharp and focused on enhancing his powers, he is a genius in all known fields of science and is an inventor as well. He is also probably the best farmer in the universe.

He was trained in the Art of War on Titan, so he is good in hand-to-hand combat and in sword fighting.

Who Won the Fight in Comics?

As I said in the beginning Dr. Doom would win in the fight against Thanos. That is a fact, he is one of the most powerful characters in the MCU, he has god-like powers and is as good a sorcerer as Dr. Strange. Thanos, even though is also very powerful, as we know from the MCU’s Infinity saga is no match for Doom. So, one-on-one, Thanos loses his life and spine. At the end of Secret Wars #8, Doom latterly rips out Thanos’ spine and kills him. But, as I said earlier, Thanos can never stay dead and his life will always be restored because he can’t enter Death’s realm.

With this act, Doom proved he is the superior supervillain, but this isn’t the end of this storyline.

It is said that Doom’s greatest weakness is his ego and thirst for power. He decided to help Reed Richards and Molecule Man to defeat the Beyonders and save the Multiverse. But, Doom betrayed them and absorbed Beyonder’s power- and became god-like powerful. Later, after Thanos came to stop him, he beat him. But, Thanos’ army, Reed Richard and Molecule Man, joined their efforts and managed to defeat Doom, and restore the multiverse. Dr. Doom is not killed, he just lost his god-tier power. He won the battle but lost the war.

This is one of the most infamous moments of the Secret Wars storyline from the comics and according to Kevin Feige, we are getting some kind of Secret Wars in the MCU. It seems like the Multiverse saga had only just begun unraveling.