Iron Man has become one of Marvel’s most fundamental figures in the twenty first century, his story of shifting from uncaring war profiteer to humbled hero serving as a solid microcosm of the entire Marvel story-telling archetype. His heroic growth doesn’t make him perfect though and his flaws can sometimes destroy more than just his reputation.
One of the domains featured in Secret Wars was the super-advanced region of Technopolis, a version of the Marvel Universe where everyone had their own Iron Man armor. But a variant of Tony Stark was left in complete control of the city, a version without any of the morality that often comes to define Iron Man as a hero. As a result, the region was a nightmarish landscape where even just drawing a deep breath could kill someone in moments.
What Happened In Iron Man’s Personal Kingdom?
As a result of Doctor Doom’s role in the 2015 Secret Wars, the dying Marvel multiverse survived as the chaotic Battleworld. A patchwork planet made of different “domains” — aka the remnants of various variant realities — each region was defined by a different style, tenor, and set of characters. One such region — Technopolis — was the central focus of “Armor Wars” (by James Robinson, Marcio Takara, Esther Sanz, and Travis Lanham). In this domain, Howard Stark had been the one to first invent Iron Mar armors instead of his son, and had done so at his leisure instead of out of desperation. Looking to force the upgrades onto the populace and assure his dominance in the technologically advanced region, Howard designed an airborne disease to scare the citizens — but the disease rapidly evolved and quickly spiraled out of control.
Soon, the entire region of Technopolis was forced to purchase their own Iron Man armors, otherwise, they’d be killed almost instantly by breathing in the highly lethal disease. This villainous version of Howard did everything he could to keep this truth hidden from the world — a cause kept up by his son Tony when he succeeded his father as Baron of the Region. His commitment to his family — which saw him turn a blind eye to the brutal ambitions of his brother Arno — came to define this Iron Man. This was an Iron Man who was willing to kill innocent people to ensure his continued dominance in the world, including the Ben Urich of this region. The death of Ben set off his nephew Peter (the Spyder-Man of this region) to investigate, forcing Iron Man to kill him as well.
Iron Man Ruling The World Ruins Everything
As his conspiracy unraveled, this version of Iron Man increasingly embraced truly vicious acts. This set off a chain reaction of revelations resulting in numerous other deaths, including the James Rhodes of this region. However, before his death, Rhodes was able to upload evidence of Tony’s actions and his niece was able to help lead a resistance against Iron Man. In essence, Technopolis is the end result of Tony Stark becoming Iron Man without the humanity necessary to turn him into a hero, something that titles like Avengers Forever have highlighted can have disastrous effects on the multiverse. In this setting, the legacy of Iron Man is one of profit above all else, elevating the Stark name and influence at the cost of untold innocents.
Tony never becomes a hero in this domain, instead murdering others to cover his tracks and ensure his continued dominance. He does this all with a smug belief that he’s completely correct in his actions, working to ensure a domain ruined by his father remains profitable, if not necessarily inhabitable. It’s all the worst parts of Tony Stark amplified and given the resources needed to turn the domain into his personal playground, unbothered by elements that would unsettle the core-Marvel Universe Iron Man. Armor Wars highlights just how terrifying Tony Stark could have become if he was Iron Man for all the wrong reasons — and the kind of impact it would likely have on the world at large.
