Writer Mark Waid sought to redefine Doctor Doom in the 2003 “Unthinkable” storyline (Vol 3 #66-70 & Vol 1 #500),
by having him forsake technology
and invest entirely in mysticism.
The story took its title from the “unthinkable” act Doom had to perform to acquire this new magical might from a trio of demons:
Killing his first love, Valeria.
With Valeria’s flesh turned into new mystic leather armor,
the story follows Doom as he imprisons Franklin Richards in Hell, captures Valeria’s namesake, and succeeds in de-powering and imprisoning the Fantastic Four.
He subsequently attempts to prove his superiority to Reed Richards by giving him the chance to find his way out of a prison that could only be escaped through magic,
in the belief that Richards would fail to do so.
With the aid of Doctor Strange, however,
Richards learns to utilize magic on a basic level
by accepting that he could not understand it and escapes.
Richards proceeds to trick Doom into rejecting the demons,
resulting in them dragging Doom to Hell.
