As Marvel heroes go, Iron Man is pretty iconic. First debuting in 1962, the hero has been a major part of Marvel Comics heroic landscape for decades, with Tony Stark suiting up as a founding member of the Avengers and being at the center of several classic comics stories, including “Demon in a Bottle”, “Armor Wars”, and “Civil War”. The character even gained a whole new level of popularity thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making Iron Man a pop culture icon as well. But now, Marvel has made a major change to Iron Man and its one that might redefine the hero into something darker.
Marvel Comics’ big Age of Revelation event is well underway, with the event offering a new status quo for X-Men storytelling, taking things 10 years into the future to a world reborn in the image of Doug Ramsey, aka Revelation, the heir to Apocalypse. It is a future where the Earth has been reshaped and bent to Revelation’s will with the X-Virus ravaging the population, either turning people to mutants or killing them. In Iron & Frost #1, out this week, we’re shown how Revelation’s forces came after the Avengers but that’s not the shocking reveal in this Age of Revelation. The shock is that Iron Man is no more. Long live Iron King.
Tony Stark is Now the Iron King
A decade after the Avengers mansion fell (literally) to Revelation’s forces and with Emma Frost being left for dead, Frost returns to New York City and follows symbols to a now-underground Avengers mansion. The symbols indicate that someone is operating there as the Hellfire Club with the place serving as a sort of secret base. But while that is surprising for Emma as it is, there’s a reveal that is even more shocking. Emma, who has had to shift into permanent diamond form to keep from dying from injuries she sustained in the original fight, is told when looking for Tony that “the man you know is gone” and they’re not wrong. Tony reveals himself to have mutated into a man of metal, calling himself the Iron King.
The issue doesn’t give us a lot of details about Tony’s current form, though we’re told he’s been working on a cure for the X-Virus and his new appearance makes it clear that, either through exposure to the X-Virus in the wild or through his research efforts, he is himself afflicted. This new version of Tony isn’t just wearing his Iron Man suit; he appears to be one with it. While his body maintains a suit-like appearance, his face and even his hair is clearly now made of metal and isn’t merely a mask. He actually has an appearance closer to that of an organic Doctor Doom — if Doom was golden colored and wearing the Iron Man suit, at least.
Is the Iron King a Hero or a Villain?
Tony’s transformation into the Iron King is shocking for Emma and she’s not alone. The entire Age of Revelation event has teased some major changes and shifts to characters as well as Marvel’s overall status quo and there’s something about the reveal that Iron Man has evolved into Iron King that has a darker tone to it. We already know that anyone standing in opposition to Revelation is considered a criminal in this bleak future. We also know that the Hellfire Club is traditionally made up of criminals and villains themselves. With the old Avengers mansion now serving as a Hellfire Club base and with Tony in a position of leadership as its Iron King, it puts Tony firmly in the “criminal” category based on circumstances.
However, as for the question of whether Tony has gone on to be a villain, that is not quite as clear. Iron & Frost #1 establishes that Tony has been working on a cure for the X-Virus. that puts him in a position of opposition against Revelation and, therefore shows him still fighting against oppressive forces. He’s just doing it differently now, ten years forward and with his own physical changes. What Marvel could be setting up is a more jaded, darker take on Iron Man, one who is facing impossible odds and having to change strategy and approach accordingly. One thing we know based on just what was revealed in Iron & Frost #1 as well as the other stories as part of the Age of Revelation event is that Revelation is not your typical threat. This is a bleak future, with many heroes dead and the remaining ones scattered and fighting their own fights. Given the limited resources and potentially insurmountable odds, Tony’s transformation may be less a question of heroes and villains and more a question of what he is willing to do to save humanity and mutant kind.
Iron & Frost #1 is on sale now.