Doctor Doom sure is a sneaky guy. In an almost unthinkable manner, he agreed to work alongside his greatest enemy, Reed Richards, as part of the Future Foundation. In a way, he didn't have much of a choice. While suffering from some brain damage, it was Reed's daughter, Valeria, that secretly went to Doom asking her to help her father. In return, she would come up with a way to fix his intellect.
Doom agreed and did his part. He put aside his evil ways and became an active member of the FF on various missions. When the world was in danger by the coming of the Celestials, Doom was needed to cause a distraction so that the rest of their plan could play out. It appeared that Doom did indeed do his part and the cost was his life.
In the latest issue of FF, issue #16, the fate of Doom is hinted at. There will be some spoilers for FF #16 so be sure to read the issue to see the aftermath of the recent events.
== TEASER ==
When Doom was prepared to play his final role, Valeria was there with her "uncle" moments before. It turns out she had some final words for him. She asked him to find a way to stay alive and that there would be something, a gift for him, that would make it all worth it.
In the other reality where he ended up, he was greeted by nothing but destruction. Coming across the corpse of a member of the Reed Richards Council, he discovered that the skeletal remains of an alternate Reed Richards that had been in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet.
If you recall what this place was like before the destruction, you know that there were certain others there as well. These individuals immediately expressed their allegiance to Doom.
It might seem that everything has fallen in Doom's favor but he's not out of the woods just yet. He can't simply travel back as Reed's portal had been destroyed on their side. For someone like Doom, the chances are he'll be able to rebuild it in time. There's also the fact that he has an Infinity Gauntlet. With the…infinite power it possesses, does he even need a portal to travel between realities?
Doom with the Infinity Gauntlet, even if he's been behaving lately is not a reassuring thought. Doom has always been hungry for power. It's surprising he hasn't tried to expand his rule beyond Latveria. Having the Infinity Gauntlet and a world at his disposal along with those that will serve him is a scary thought.
But Doom has had this sort of power before. During the original SECRET WARS, he managed to gain pretty much all of the Beyonder's godlike powers. Despite the ability to do anything he could think of, he still managed to set himself up for defeat. Doom may have learned a thing or two since then but having this much power once again most likely won't go well.
There is the possibility that his time with the Future Foundation, especially with Valeria, might have had an influence on him. You have to remember that he was willing to sacrifice himself. There's the likely notion of a leopard not being able to change his spots so the chances of Doom wanting to use the Gauntlet with absolute good intentions would be hard to accept.
What will be next for Doom?
We probably won't see him for a bit. He'll be busy in his new world, rebuilding. We've been seeing a lot of Doom lately so it's likely that it's been decided he'll get a short break from comics. He will be back and with the Infinity Gauntlet. He might not be back with the intentions of destroying the world but more likely he'll want to try to make it better. At least in a way he feels it would be better. The Fantastic Four will have quite a time trying to stop Doom and the Infinity Gauntlet. But Doom's greatest weakness is his arrogance. Every time he's gained immense powers, he's lost them. Doom may be in possession of one of the greatest powers in the Marvel Universe but it's likely he will end up losing them when he tries to assert his will upon everything.