Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Doom have been foes for a very long time, and the root of their rivalry will be explored in Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1. The story is part of the Challenges of Doom series of five one-shots by Al Ewing, who will be paired with a group of artists.

Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic with art by Mike Henderson (Cable: Love and Chrome) sees young Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards engaging in a battle of wits. Their ongoing feud begins and the events that lead to Doom’s transition into a supervillain will be presented in the special.

Each issue will showcase a confrontation between Doom and one of his enemies, tracking his insatiable hunger for power, challenges his intellect, and tests his resolve. The bimonthly series begins in July 2026 with Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic, followed by Challenges of Doom: Spider-Man, Challenges of Doom: Doctor Strange, Challenges of Doom: Magneto, and Challenges of Doom: Namor.

“Doom’s one of the great characters of Marvel. He’s both incredibly complex and wonderfully simple, so there are always new wrinkles to be found in his past – right from his origin story – and maybe in his future, as well,” Ewing said. “After Darren Shan pitched me the Challenges of Doom concept, I got the crazy idea to use it to tell a complete story that spans Doom’s whole life, with each of the specials being a snapshot of a particular time in that life and how a particular hero challenged and maybe even inspired him. Hopefully the result will be a fun ride for all Doom-heads out there!”

“Challenges of Doom will pit the Lord of Latveria against some of the prime movers of the Marvel Universe as a way of illuminating different facets of Doom’s power, personality, intellect and skill,” Executive Editor Tom Brevoort said. “Through them, you’ll get a full picture of just why Doom is the greatest of all Marvel’s villains.”

Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1 features a main cover by Fabrizio De Tmmasow with variants by Alessandro Cappuccio, Kael Ngu, and Lucio Parrillo. It will be in comic shops on July 1.