Will of Doom, The (2026 series) #1

Marines pick up Thunderbolt Ross in Latveria. They are under orders to attach a depowering collar to Ross before he enters the copter. The commander fills Ross in on the situation back home, mentioning people are afraid to be Americans again. He also mentions he has orders to take down the American flag planted by Ross but says he will not follow that order. Ross’ goal is to get the world to fear the Americans….

In a small town in Virginia, a mayor’s aide arrives at work to find the Mayor has been supplanted by a Doombot….

Doctor Doom’s will leaves all of his wealth and property to Valeria Richards, worth about five billion dollars and that’s just what can be located outside of Latveria, which is currently a war zone. Foggy Nalson and Cole North take their leave, congratulating Valeria on being the richest kid in the world….

At the White House, General Ross, still with the depowering collar, is being rebuked by Secretary of State Brooke for planting an American flag in Latveria, signifying occupation; Ross argues that America should be occupying Latveria…and they are interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Fantastic and Thing. Brooke also criticizes Reed for either not being able to see Doom’s plan to take over the world or seeing it and deciding to take care of it himself without even notifying the Secretary of State. His complaint, about both the Fantastic Four and Red Hulk, and by extension every superhero, is that they believe their powers place them above the law and chain of command. And Valeria inheriting Doom’s wealth explains why people no longer trust the Fantastic Four. Then an aide enters to notify Brooke of an emergency….

Meanwhile, Invisible Woman and Valeria are walking along a street with Val admitting she still misses her Uncle Doom when there is an explosion ahead….

Doombots are taking over the world, occupying governments at every level. Sue is fighting them in the streets when Human Torch arrives. Val points out that as she owns the Doombots, she can find the master controls to shut them all down. Sue calls Reed to tell him they are taking a Fantasti-Car to Latveria with Johnny coming along….

A Doombot crashes into the White House, pinning Reed to a door and spraying gas in Ben’s face that weakens him. Ross steps up and is easily knocked down….

All over the world, heroes are fighting Doombots, Captain America and Captain Marvel in Costa Rica and Storm and Wolverine in Canada….

Sue, Johnny, and Val arrive in Latveria to find Doombots repairing Doom’s castle so she turns them and the car invisible and they land. Val explains that the castle is being repaired because, even dead, Doom wants his presence to be felt. Val doesn’t find emanations from the controls so they must be elsewhere. Johnny is upset at the devastation and poverty in the place so he suggests they clean up the warring factions and bring some stability, FF style. Sue reminds him that they are not supposed to be there and when the UN sends in peacekeepers which the FF will support….

The White House Doombot gives Ben a beating and demands to see the President. Reed, still pinned to the wall, asks the Doombot to kill him, knowing the Doombot cannot since the real Doom would reserve that achievement for himself alone. The Doombot acknowledges that but he can inflict severe pain on Reed….

Val and the others search Mount Doom with still no success. Johnny spots the American flag and intends to take it down but Sue again reminds him that they are not supposed to be there and if they touch the flag Reed will again have to explain why they went against the law. Someone shoots at them and Sue wraps two rebels in a force field. The incident reminds Sue that Val died in the final battle with Doom and she is still haunted by it. And then she notices that Val is gone….

The Doombot tortures Reed who calmly mentions that he is staling to give Ben a chance to recover. And recover he does, exchanging punches with the robotic baddie. But Ben is still weak and the Doombot fells him with electricity. Turning, he finds Reed has vanished through a crack in the door….

Returning home over the ocean, Valeria is in contact with her brother Franklin, who reminds her that she just died and of course Mom is going to be overprotective of her. And then a lightning bolt hits the Fantasti-Car and it crashes into the ocean….

The Doombot pursues Reed Richards through the White Hose where Reed has found General Ross and removes the depowering collar. Ross turns into Red Hulk and knocks the Bot through a wall and onto the lawn where he proceeds to beat the metal baddie into a crater in the ground. Soldiers surround him….

Valeria is washed up on a desert island, courtesy of a mechanical shark that morphs into a Doombot. In the person of Doom, he explains that this is Doom Island, his secret refuge and now it belongs to Val. She tells him that she is going to start a charity and give away all of her newly-inherited wealth, except for the island which she wants to keep in case he returns; it can be a place of relaxation that might make him a better person. The Doombot hands her a control pad and she presses the button and the Doombot, along with all others on Earth, suddenly collapses. Her family arrives, relieved to find her safe. Reed blames himself for Doom’s having turned evil all those years ago but Valeria reminds him that the only person who could have changed Doom was Doom himself….

Epilogue: Secretary Brooke approaches General Ross at the Lincoln Memorial to thank him for keeping the President safe. He then admits that Ross was right about Latveria still being dangerous, with possible weapons of mass destruction hidden away so he requests that Ross be a consultant to the occupying forces there….

Franklin relaxes on the beach at Doom Island, telling Val she was dumb for giving away the wealth. She goes to check out the island and in a secret chamber we learn she has her own army of Doombots, in case she needs a little backup….