The Fantastic Four will take their place in Marvel Rivals on January 10 to fight for truth, justice and extremes against the diabolical duo of Doctor Doom and Dracula.
Yes, I’m talking about This Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, who has a long, if relatively low-key, history as a Marvel Comics villain. In the first season of Marvel Rivals, he and Doctor Doom teamed up to implement a nefarious plan seemingly inspired by none other than Montgomery Burns: they somehow disturbed the moon’s orbit, “plunging the city in eternal night”, whereby an army of vampire creatures could freely roam and do… whatever they do. Probably nothing good.
“With the world on the brink, the Fantastic Four join forces with iconic Marvel heroes in an epic battle to break the mystical darkness through science. Ignite the battle against Dracula with the Fantastic Four in Marvel Rivals!”
I’m not sure how mad agents of terror really fit into Doctor Doom’s typical modus operandi – I haven’t kept up with the comics in recent decades, but generally speaking, his megalomania is confined by a relatively inflexible code of honor, so terrorizing people for the hell of it doesn’t strike me as that’s his style – but regardless, superheroes throwing arms with vampires because a guy in a full plate and a moon-adorned cloak is definitely a full-fledged comic setting for the book’s story.
Based again on my old-fashioned but probably still relevant understanding of the art form, my guess is that the Doom-Dracula partnership, like some of the political alliances we’ve seen recently, is doomed to collapse under the weight of combined egos. I can’t imagine these two guys in the same room for more than five minutes without things getting out of hand.
It’s also worth noting that Doctor Strange has been trapped in the “Entangled Astral Plane” and the pages of the Darkhold are scattered. It’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for them, I bet they will come in handy at some point.
Season 1 of Marvel Rivals will begin on January 10 at 1:00 a.m. PT/4:00 a.m. EST.
