Marvel Confirms Doctor Doom's Secret Weapon at D23, and It's Not the Darkhold

Marvel Studios just confirmed Doctor Doom's secret weapon in the week leading up to D23, and despite what a lot of people online are guessing, it is not a variant of the Darkhold. It is a book pulled straight from Marvel Comics called the Word of God, and it lines up with a scoop reported a month earlier.

Doom's Trophy Collecting Was Already Visible a Year Ago in Anaheim

Rewinding over a year to the first look at Doctor Doom, five stories high on the side of the Anaheim Convention Center, the imagery already suggested this was a version of Doom who collects trophies. His outfit carried symbolism tied to Thor, Captain Marvel, and the Ten Rings, pointing to a pattern of picking up and keeping artifacts along his conquest.

Industry insider Cryptic HD has reported that Doom might have an entire trophy room, similar to his armor room, filled with artifacts that either gave him power, helped his conquest, or were literally taken from people he defeated. That report set the stage for something more specific that surfaced a month later.

Industry insider Daniel RPK reported last month that Doom might have a secret weapon. Credit goes to Daniel RPK for reportedly nailing this detail a month before Marvel Studios revealed it, and that reveal now appears to line up directly with what showed up on the convention floor.

The Prop on the D23 Floor Is Labeled, and It's Not the Darkhold

A picture taken as crews were setting up for D23 on the Anaheim Convention floor showed a book clearly labeled among the props associated with Avengers: Doomsday. Multiple social media posts about this book were full of comments calling it "Darkhold 2.0" or a variant of the Darkhold.

That is not what it is. Daniel RPK's scoop from a month earlier specifically named it as a book called the Word of God, and this is not something Marvel Studios invented for Doctor Doom to grab. It is a book that exists in Marvel Comics already.

What the Word of God Actually Is in the Comics

In the comics, the Word of God is an immensely powerful book that seems magical or divine but is actually scientific in nature, which fits Doctor Doom perfectly since he is a man of both science and magic. It was written by an extra-dimensional engineer who traveled to different dimensions to absorb their power, and the book contained the majority of that engineer's power while also serving as the means to travel between dimensions.

The book became lost in Earth's dimension because it carried the power to both create and destroy. Since people did not know its true author, they assumed it was forbidden magic and built legends around it, which is how it came to be called the Word of God. Doom does seek it out in the comics, and it gives him abilities like traveling the multiverse and creating and destroying, which explains why he would want it.

Using the Book Comes at a Steep Price, Like the Darkhold

Like the Darkhold, there is a cost to using this book. Speaking words from the Word of God puts a mark on the speaker's bones that links them to the extra-dimensional engineer, and using too many words from the book will summon that author and place the user under the author's control.

"Really reminds me of Spawn's power, so to speak, where there's basically not an unlimited supply," is how I'd describe it, pointing to the old energy meter Spawn had to manage by relying on real weapons like guns to conserve his magic, since running out would drag him back to the underworld. The Word of God works the same way: extremely powerful, but usable only so many times before it costs everything.

The Book's Cover Might Explain the Rune on Doom's Gloves

People have pointed out that the front of the book looks like it could depict Loki with horns, but to me it actually resembles the rune seen on Doom's gloves, the same rune shown twice now, once during the Anaheim light show last year and again in the latest trailer. I wonder if that rune is actually the mark described in the comics as being placed on anyone who speaks from the Word of God.

That would explain why Doctor Doom is already so powerful when he is first introduced in Avengers: Doomsday, since the mark and the book's power would already be in play before the film even starts.

Is Doom Too Powerful Already? The Risk of Power Creep

There is a real risk when a character becomes this powerful. Doom is shown catching Stormbreaker with two fingers and flicking it across the battlefield, even though Stormbreaker previously withstood the Infinity Gauntlet and all the Infinity Stones. Giving someone that much power without showing the transformation risks coming across as overpowered rather than interesting, and it raises the question of what the point of the fight even is if Doom can already beat the Avengers this easily.

Those vulnerabilities are likely being saved for Avengers: Secret Wars rather than Doomsday. When Thor gives his speech to the Avengers and the Fantastic Four about who and what Doom is, the fear in that scene reflects how powerful Doom already is, and that fear looks like it will be the underlying story of Doomsday: that no matter what the heroes try, they cannot stand up to him.

Marvel Studios Boxed Itself In With Sentry, Franklin Richards, and Loki

Marvel Studios has not left itself much room to make Doctor Doom less powerful, given who else is already on the board. Sentry and Franklin Richards were introduced back to back, and Franklin Richards' power is going to keep scaling as he gets older, already qualifying as a mega-level mutant at his current age.

On top of that, Loki is God of Stories, sitting at the center of the multiverse holding it together, and if the theories are correct, he can also project himself into these timelines while doing so. Loki season 2 already showed him controlling time and moving up and down it. Between Franklin Richards, Sentry as arguably the most powerful character in the 616 without Scarlet Witch, and Loki, Doctor Doom has to be extremely powerful, and there simply is not time in one film for him to level up gradually.

Going straight from Doctor Doom to God Emperor Doom in a single film does not feel like the amount of story that character deserves, but with the MCU pivoting off Kang late in the game, this is the best they are going to do. Doom has already been beating heroes, conquering worlds, and collecting artifacts, and the Word of God, now apparently confirmed by the D23 floor, is what ultimately lets him overthrow Loki and create Battleworld.

Kevin Feige Calls the Ending "Satisfying," But How?

Kevin Feige has said the ending of Avengers: Doomsday is satisfying and will leave audiences unable to wait for Avengers: Secret Wars. It is hard to see how Doctor Doom creating Battleworld out of the fallout from the multiverse counts as satisfying, unless Feige means that anyone who has read Time Runs Out and Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars run will feel satisfied recognizing the story beats being followed.

Starting Doom off with this much power, and giving him these artifacts, does not feel like a plot hole or a lazy device. Given the current level of power creep in the MCU, it feels necessary.

Which Heroes Even Stand a Chance Against Doom?

One complication is that the Thunderbolts team joining the fight is essentially a group of Captain America-level fighters outside of Sentry, and it is unclear how they hold up against the Sentinels and Doctor Doom. That may explain why leaked footage only showed Yelena Belova from that team, possibly Ghost as well, but no John Walker and no Red Guardian.

Those two are likely off fighting someone else, maybe alongside the Wakandans against Doombots, because in direct conflict with a Doctor Doom capable of defeating Thor that easily, a John Walker with a pistol and a shield, or a Yelena Belova, simply would not have much to offer.

What do you think happens when Doom finally runs out of uses of the Word of God?