Julian McMahon's Doctor Doom Was The Best Part Of 2005's Fantastic Four

Fans of the Fantastic Four have had an interesting run of things at the movies. There have been multiple attempts made to adapt the Marvel Comics franchise, with varying levels of success. While none of the movies have been fantastic, there is a bright spot in both the 2005 "Fantastic Four" film and its 2007 follow-up, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," and that's Australian-American actor Julian McMahon. 

The late performer, who sadly died on July 2, 2025, at the age of 56, rose to fame playing womanizing plastic surgeon Christian Troy on Ryan Murphy's soapy drama "Nip/Tuck" and was cast as the villainous Victor von Doom in director Tim Story's "Fantastic Four" films. The movies are kind of a mess from a screenplay standpoint, but McMahon gives a truly perfect performance as Victor von Doom — both masked and unmasked. (Doom is supposed to be of Romani descent and McMahon does not fit that requirement, but that's really about it.)

Playing Doom required a very specific approach, leaning into the sheer fun of more wicked moments while also still presenting a character with whom audiences could empathize. Doom is a pretty complex villain, to the point that he's almost an anti-hero, and McMahon clearly understood the assignment. Sometimes you want to see Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) punch some of the prettiness off Victor's smug face, but other times his character is truly tragic and even relatable. Maybe playing the scummy-but-sympathetic surgeon Christian was the perfect practice for portraying such a charismatic baddie in a campy setting, because he's honestly killing it. 

Even though the "Fantastic Four" movies didn't necessarily give their actors the best writing to work with, McMahon still brought a tremendous amount of pathos to the character. Like so many of the truly great villain performances in cinema history, he's taking the role seriously even when it doesn't take itself seriously. Like Raul Julia playing M. Bison in "Street Fighter" or Frank Langella as Skeletor in the 1987 "The Masters of the Universe," McMahon took a vital role in a rather goofy movie and did his absolute best to make something of it. I'm going to be honest: there are moments in both films where I'm rooting for him more than the Fantastic Four, no matter how much fun pre-"Captain America" Chris Evans is having as Johnny Storm. 

Toby Kebbell did what he could with Victor von Doom in the 2015 Josh Trank version of "Fantastic Four," but it never feels as passionate or fun as McMahon's take. Robert Downey, Jr. will take on another version of the role next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, likely through some multiverse shenanigans where Tony Stark is somehow Doom instead of ole Victor. While Downey once auditioned for the 2005 part of Doctor Doom, losing out to McMahon, it honestly worked out for the best because we got to see McMahon really show off his chops. (It also could have hurt Downey's chances at "Iron Man" just a few years later, and that's the best comic book casting of all time, so it would have been criminal.) 

Here's the thing about acting: while we often tend to think of "great acting" as those moments with huge emotional impact and dramatic moments, one of the most important parts is really just making the audience suspend their disbelief. When you're playing a very realistic character in a grounded drama, that's one thing, but getting the audience to buy in on something like "Fantastic Four" takes a lot more finesse. For Victor von Doom and McMahon, it's a tonal tightrope walk that requires both vulnerability and a bit of melodrama, and he pulls it off with panache. 

It's unlikely that anyone will ever declare "Fantastic Four" and "Rise of the Silver Surfer" are masterpieces, and while "Nip/Tuck" was glorious gory fun, it was also a cable channel soap opera. Both were made much better by McMahon's being in them, bringing both charm for days and just the right amount of bad-boy flair. Rest in peace, sir. You will be sorely missed.