Legion creator Noah Hawley has teased some of the ideas for his planned movie about the iconic Marvel character Doctor Doom. Whilst production on the film is realistically a long way from starting and yet to be green-lit, Hawley hopes to provide a story that will ‘mix genres’ and finally provide a fitting platform to explore one of the best comic-book villains ever.

Doctor Victor Von Doom has been pestering the Marvel Universe ever since first appearing in The Fantastic Four #5 in July 1962. Whilst going through umpteen status changes over the years, he is best-known as the armor-faced ruler of Latveria, and the personal nemesis of Reed Richards. The recent depictions of the super-villain in the 2005/2007 Fantastic Four films (played by Julian McMahon), and the 2015 Josh Trank reboot (played by Toby Kebbell) seriously missed the intensity of Doom. So it was with some excitement that fans greeted the news last year that Hawley was developing a Doctor Doom film for Fox outside of the MCU.

Since that original announcement, Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s major entertainment assets has obviously complicated the intended plans for the film. But in an interview with Observer, Hawley confirms that he is still committed to bringing the project to the screen, and has teased his vision for the plot. Perhaps surprisingly, he has been motivated by one of the MCU’s best movies:

“What’s interesting to me about Doom’s character is he’s the king of an Eastern European country and is there a version of this that is more of a political thriller that mixes genre?…It’s something that [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] did really well, which was kind of make a Cold War thriller movie out of a superhero movie. This is different than that, but it does have this idea of, and I don’t want to say too much about it, but it is a mixture of genres… the mandate is not to re-launch the Fantastic Four franchise as much as it is to take this fascinating and under-served character and really build a movie about him where we ask the question: Is he a hero? Is he a villain? What does he really want?”

That said, Hawley’s work schedule is particularly busy at the moment. With Legion season 2 on the verge of premiering, Hawley is also working on Pale Blue Dot with Natalie Portman and Jon Hamm, an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, and recently revealed his plans for Fargo Season 4. And despite his previous positive comments about the Disney acquisition, Hawley does admit that he’s not entirely certain about the situation that exists now with the company and any future depictions of Doom:

There have been previous reports that linked actors Dan Stevens and Mads Mikkelsen to the lead role, both of whom would be excellent as Victor. But Hawley has yet to be drawn on any further hints or decisions regarding the project. There’s obviously a long road ahead before the film is made, and some obstacles need to be overcome, but Disney would be displaying questionable judgement to prevent this from ever happening. Hawley’s ongoing  work with the fan-pleasing-but-quirky Legion, along with his intriguing take on everybody’s favorite megalomaniac, suggests that his Doctor Doom movie could prove to be something very special… should it actually get the go-ahead, of course.

“That’s not clear to me yet… I would have to imagine there’s a plan in a drawer somewhere.”

MORE: Who Should Play Fox’s New Doctor Doom?

We will bring you more information on the Doctor Doom movie as it becomes available.

Source: Observer