Was George Lucas' Star Wars, or was it the other way around?
It's not hard to see that the two popular villains have quite a bit in common. For one, they share much in the way of style and aesthetic. Both of them wear regal capes and suits of armor from head to toe, faces covered by helmets which mask the scarred visage underneath. Not only that, but they both exist as leaders of dark armies. While Darth Vader leads the Imperial battalions for his Emperor, Doctor Doom commands the army of Latveria and leads an army of Doombots. They also each wield quasi-magical forces - Darth Vader the Dark Side of the Force, Doctor Doom the eldritch energies of his own mystical studies.
After the release of most terrifying villains in all of pop culture. As a result, Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee felt the need to set the record straight that his and Jack Kirby's Doctor Doom character came first. In a Fantastic Four collection from 1979, Stan Lee had this to say about Vader and Doom to readers in his introduction to Fantastic Four #87:
Hey, gang, have you seen Star Wars? Okay, okay, I realize that’s like asking if you can spell your name. But anyway, the villain, Darth Vader? …you are about to meet one of our own Marvel villains, and I just suspect that you might notice the teensy-weensiest little resemblance! And, in case you’re wondering, Dr. Doom came first—by about 15 years, give or take a micro-minute or two.
It's fun to see that even Doom's creators recognized the resemblance, and especially that they were so concerned about people thinking that they'd taken inspiration for Doom despite him preceding Vader. While A New Hope and Vader's introduction was in 1977, Doctor Doom was created by Lee and Kirby years beforehand, with Doom's first appearance being in Fantastic Four #5, which was published back in 1962.
It's no secret that the Star Wars galaxy Lucas created was inspired by multiple genres of storytelling and mythology, so why not take elements from popular comics too? Doctor Doom certainly would have been a big enough character by that time for Lucas to have been aware of him, regardless of whether or not he had actually read any of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four. However deep their connection runs, Doctor Doom and Darth Vader are two evil peas in a sinister pod, boasting similarities that place both in any list of pop culture's most iconic villains.
