By Owen Quinn author photos copyright Marvel
There’ll be a flood of tributes for Julian McMahon since yesterday and I think you should only write one if you are a genuine fan of the person and liked their work. Otherwise, it’s just a like trawl. and doesn’t really honour their memory.
i write this the day before I am due to go on a podcast to discuss the Fantastic Four movie 2005 in which Julian played Doctor Doom. It is just sad coincidence that his passing has happened at 56 from cancer. He is the second Charmed star to die now with the loss of the lovely Shannen Doherty.
And it just doesn’t seem fair. In fact, it isn’t.
I remember him in Home and Away with his former wife, Danni Minogue but it was his role as the tortured demon Balthazar aka Cole Turner in Charmed that brought him to millions of fans’ attention. Sent to kill the Charmed Ones, he fell in love with Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and stayed for four years.
Cole went on some dark storylines, becoming a genuine threat to the sisters. But Cole was the devil with an angel’s face. Julian gravitated towards villains and damaged characters and in Nip/Tuck was forever getting his kit off. You watched a show or movie like Red, with him in it because he was so magnetic. Cole was a hugely popular character but when Fantastic Four came along, there was only one Doctor Doom and he wore the face of an angel.
Say what you want about the movies, Julian defined the role of the team’s greatest enemy, Victor Von Doom as a charming billionaire rogue that only had eyes for Susan Storm and used his power and wealth over rival, Reed Richards, to suit himself.
His transformation from the radiation storm was slower than the others but it was cleverly done; drip feeding the audience as he schemed and plotted, knowing his condition was irreversible. He knew how to manipulate others like he did when he tricked Ben Grimm into turning himself human again so The Thing could not stop Doom. It isn’t until Doom and The Thing get laid into each other in all out battle that Ben finally realises just how powerful he really is as Thing. His abnormality is his greatest strength. Similarly, we see just how much punishment Doom can take until he is defeated, at least until the sequel comes round.
It was a nice touch that the metal mask given to Doom as a tribute to his humanitarian efforts becomes a symbol the world will fear. I liked his portrayal of Doom especially when lit right and that electronically changed voice.
If ever there was a wolf in sheep’s clothing then Julian McMahon delivered it in spades as Doctor Doom.
But that was what made Julian McMahon so good as an actor and why he was so popular with fans. When he was on screen, he commanded it and the audience watched. When they say the industry has loss a legend, in this case it is so appropriate.
Sorry, Robert Downey Jr but Julian McMahon was my Doctor Doom and always will be.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 