The most underrated villain in Iron Man canon has an awesome new design, kicking off a rebirth the character has needed (and deserved) for decades. Here’s everything you need to know.
Iron Man’s Dreadknight Debuts Major Glow-Up
IRON MAN BATTLING Dreadknight
Marvel recently released solicit information for Iron Man #2, coming from Joshua Williamson and Carmen Carnero. Part of the new Iron Man Volume 8, the story will see Tony Stark at war with former lover and current enemy Madame Masque. However, Steve Skroce’s variant cover for the issue strongly implies that Tony will be going up against another classic villain as well – the Dreadknight.
A truly underrated villain, Bram Velsing’s Dreadknight is a genius inventor from Doctor Doom’s native Latveria. Every bit as much of an egomaniac as his ruler, Dreadknight fell afoul of Doom, who had a metal helmet biologically grafted to his head. While Dreadknight escaped and became an enemy of Doom, that doesn’t make him a hero, and he’s clashed with (and beaten) Iron Man in the past, wielding a powerful energy lance and riding a genetically engineered ‘Hellhorse.’
Dreadknight riding his winged horse in Marvel Comics.
In many ways, Dreadknight is Iron Man if he’d been born under different circumstances. Sadly, he’s never received much love, despite being a creepy Tony Stark-level inventor without the morality that makes Iron Man hold back. Part of the issue with Dreadknight is that it’s hard to buy Iron Man struggling to beat a guy with a lance, and Skroce’s new design fixes that, arming Bram Velsing with hi-tech blades and some more clearly tech-based armor.
Iron Man’s Dreadknight Is Enjoying a Full-Blown Renaissance
avengers’ most recent iteration of the masters of evil, including iron man’s dreadknight
Dreadknight’s return comes after his recent appearance in Avengers #25 (Jed MacKay and Valerio Schiti) as one of the new Masters of Evil. To appear twice in the same year is big news for a character who has only had about a dozen appearances since his 1977 debut, however there’s a reason that Bram Velsing is having a renaissance.
Bram Velsing’s reputation as an ‘evil Tony Stark’ was solidified in the Ultimate Universe, where he wore a purple version of Iron Man’s armor.
iron man villain dreadknight in the ultimate universe
Following the events of the One World Under Doom event, Latveria is in crisis, with heroes including Captain America and Red Hulk battling over its future. It therefore makes sense that Dreadknight would be back in the mix, as one of Latveria’s few homegrown protectors (and would-be rulers.) Indeed, his membership in the new Masters of Evil came about as villains banded together to resist Doom’s takeover of the planet.
The rise and fall of Doctor Doom has created the perfect environment to reinvent Dreadknight, with Iron Man offering up a rematch between Tony Stark and a majorly upgraded Bram Velsing. For comic fans, it’s always rewarding when a formerly Z-list character finally gets their moment in the spotlight, and hopefully Dreadknight’s clash with Iron Man will only take him on to bigger and better things.
Iron Man #2 is coming February 25 from Marvel Comics.
Died
2023 (in the MCU)
Alias
Iron Man
RELATIONSHIPS
Jude (biological father), Amanda Armstrong (biological mother), Howard Stark (adoptive father), Maria Stark (adoptive mother), Arno Stark (brother)