Scar
Super Freak
Doom's armor has a couple cytorak bands? crikey! that dude is wasting all his talent chatting with namor and battling F4... and yes he did detect the hood in the same meeting! or was it Loki that came out last?either way I think he detected them both.
And I also think you over-rate norman osborne... yes he's got all this power, but as Maria Hill told him (and as Doom told Namor), he will certainly self-destruct, eventually... plus he's still fighting his own inner demons, quite literally
On a different note I vaguely remember a similar meeting where Osborne, Madame Web and a bunch of other peeps had to pick randomly b/w Ultimate Power, Knowledge and Immortality for Madness and Death... Osborne got power I think. - but what did he do with all of it?
Unless Dark Reign is headed in some really crazy, really unpredictable direction, I think that ultimately Osborne will prove himself incapable of dealing with all this new power.
You don't get to be a billionaire industrialist, world-class geneticist and biochemist, combat strategist, and logistics specialist capable of successfully running a team of sociopaths including Venom and Bullseye for years within the public eye (even keeping Bullseye under wraps) in a manner that conveys not only competence but flourishing coordination... without earning that status as the Super Villain at the top of the heap. It's precisely Norman OSBORN (note the spelling, "Osborn", not Osborne"
) being completely and utterly insane which makes him such a cogent threat. Venom once said Norman wouldn't be Norman if he didn't have dirt on powerful people, and it is exactly that which typifies why he has become the power player. He has shown a staggering degree of competence with the power he has been entrusted with, and I think Warren Ellis' run on Thunderbolts is responsible for evolving the character into who he is today. ALL of his mainstream Spidey exploits aside, his ascension to power in recent years hasn't tempered his fighting prowess in the slightest. When Whirlwind , Tiger Shark, Boomerang, and Mr. Hyde tried to ambush Norman sans his Goblin outfit, he not only defeated them but threatened to kill their families and loved ones "in ways that would make even sociopaths like you weep." Lest we forget his now legendary rampage through Thunderbolts Mountain when he again became the Green Goblin, killing numerous members of the security detail and crucifying the Swordsman... whom he later impaled with his own sword and hurled out a window in Thunderbolts Mountain... just because the Swordsman kept interrupting him. Fighting prowess aside, he TALKED the Skrull-Captain Marvel down from using his powers to decimate all within Thunderbolts Mountain, convincing him to leave and strike back against the Skrull Empire. "I know something about having voices in your head. Voices pulling you in different directions. And I also know something... about not knowing if you're really pink... or green." Such empathetic, almost elegiac dialogue; it exemplifies on a few psychological levels why Norman is such a threat.
Bear in mind this is an abridged list, including only Norman's recent exploits concerning why I think he will not only make an effective leader but how he may keep hold of the position of most powerful villain in the Marvel U for some time. I could go on about his interactions with "the bug" but I don't really believe they're germane to his leading abilities, typifying more his unfettered personality as the Goblin than when he composes himself as Norman. One of his most impressive feats in the past few weeks, to me at least, was outwitting Len Samson, one of the most intelligent men on the planet, in front of the President to make Samson appear not only guileful, but an outright terrorist. Underestimate? No, but I am realistic. Moonstone best summed up his personality in her psychological profile of him thusly, "Bilpolar, megalomaniacal sadist, yet possessed of impressive executive skills. True leadership qualities as yet undetermined. Could become one of the most dangerous men in the world... or degenerate into a cackling maniac. It's completely up to him." That is why I find Norman's reign compelling. Also, interesting to note is that while the members of the Cabal did resent being assembled there... they came. They not only came, but they stayed and didn't get up from that table during the entire meeting. They know Norman is holding all the cards at the moment, and Doom is relying upon the Goblin to jump down from the pedestal of power to attack the mewling populace below. Still, Namor is beginning to realize that recent events have proven the matter to be far from quite as cut and dry, leaving it ambiguous as to what the result may be. Norman is holding all. the. Cards. it takes A LOT to give Doctor Doom pause, and Norman achieves just that during that meeting. By unveiling whom we can assume is the Sentry/Void as his ally, Norman makes Doom draw a quickened breath. It's an impressive power play. The reality of an individual's criminal insanity does not necessarily dilute brilliance, capacity to lead, nor least of all the danger posed by one.
What I like most about this situation is that we have numerous individuals gathered together, all of whom are inherently mistrusting, and none of whom like to be talked down to. The gathering is tenuous to say the least. Namor and Doom talking to Norman candidly about not liking him still prompts laughter from me when I read it.
And yes, Doom has crimson bands of Cytorak, which he was about to use to wipe the Avengers from the planet until the Sentry ripped the mask from his face, armor from his chest, and cowed him.
It is for that reason that Doom is knowledgeable of the Sentry's power and has reason to be tremulous. However, Stark humiliated him immediately thereafter saying, "You recognize my authority now?" Doom has reason to play along with Norman at least until Tony is pressed firmly beneath his heel. The Dark Reign is a great time for we villain fans.
Also, just an aside, but this is my favorite Doom moment in a good long while, and I like how it contrasts him to Iron Man.
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