While the end of Robert Downey Jr.’s tenure as the golden avenger may have been bittersweet, his run wasn’t short in terms of screen time. Featured in his own movie trilogy, five Avengers films — yeah, let’s be honest, Captain America Civil War was an Avengers film — and Spider-Man Homecoming, Downey spent a decade embodying this most iconic of MCU characters. But curiously, these multiple appearances only scratched the surface of the Iron Man mythos and rogues gallery.
Villains like Baron Zemo, Ultron, and Thanos are more generally considered Avengers foes in the comic source material. And though Iron Monger, Whiplash, and Killian Aldrich have specifically menaced Tony Stark in the comics, I don’t know that most fans would typically rank them among his most prominent or deadly rivals. So the notable absence of several other major Iron Man villains and their associated plot lines would appear to leave a hole in the fabric of Marvel’s cinematic universe. But with Kevin Feige’s recent announcement of a Phase 4 Shang-Chi movie that will introduce The Mandarin — the real Mandarin, not the impostor played by Ben Kingsley in Iron Man 3 — to the MCU, it’s become evident that some of these loose threads may yet get tied off in unexpected ways. And with that idea in mind, we should all reflect on the implications for Peter Parker in the wake of the events of Spider-Man Far from Home.
When Marvel Studios originally framed Far from Home as an epilogue to Phase 3, I’m sure that no one could have imagined the extent to which the Spider-Man sequel would revolve around Tony Stark’s legacy. The emotional notes were somewhat predictable, but the tangible effects of Tony’s death were not. In many ways, the MCU version of Mysterio represented the embodiment of all of Tony’s faults — the sins of the father come crashing down on his spiritual son and would-be successor. But it didn’t end there. Tony would go a step further by handing off a literal physical legacy — a mcguffin with the potential to re-shape the rest of Peter’s life— in the form of the E.D.I.T.H. technology. And it’s in the fallout of this bequeathing that we may yet see an adaptation of one of the most famous of Iron Man stories played out as a Spider-Man sequel.
Stark Contrast
The MCU incarnation of Tony Stark could be a haunted character, much as he is often portrayed in the comics. But that movie angst stemmed from a different source than the comics. As is shown particularly in Iron Man 3 and Avengers Age of Ultron, RDJ’s Stark struggled under the weight of responsibility for Earth’s protection after the “Battle of New York.” “Cursed with knowledge” of what lurked beyond the stars, this would be his obsession and the guiding force behind his development of the Iron Legion and Ultron. And that bent is unique to the Marvel cinematic universe.
In the comics, Stark could also be driven at times to mania and paranoia — but it wasn’t because he was failing to change the world enough. On the contrary, his worry stemmed from the potential for his inventions to escape his control — for his tech to fall into the wrong hands. In many ways, the cinematic Tony Stark could be imagined as the comic book variant’s worst nightmare — someone so eager to put his imprint on the world that he had failed to account for all possible consequences. It’s not surprising then that this theme, as represented in the famous “Armor Wars” story line, couldn’t be reconciled with the story arcs and characterization planned for Downey’s role. However, there may now be a clear path for it to play out in the life of a closely related hero also defined by his sense of responsibility.
Armor Wars is an interesting story arc in that it’s a globe-spanning tale that forces Iron Man to interact with a long list of similar armored characters inhabiting the Marvel universe: Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Mauler, The Beetle, and many more. In the 1987–1988 Armor Wars story — originally called “Stark Wars”— Tony learns that the villain known as Spymaster has stolen numerous weapon and armor designs from Stark Enterprises and has sold them to entities ranging from petty criminals to various domestic and foreign governments. Incensed by the idea that his technology is being used without his involvement or permission, Stark initially attempts to achieve a legal resolution but is rebuffed by the courts. At this point, he goes on a vigilante crusade against friend and foe alike to defeat and disable any armored character he believes to be using some aspect of his technology. In the midst of this crusade, Stark Enterprises and the Avengers both publicly break ties with Iron Man and the hero finds himself the subject of a worldwide manhunt — one that only ends when the Iron Man armor is seemingly destroyed by a nuclear missile attack.
While it’s not a perfect fit — and I’d fully expect Disney to take its usual liberties with the source material — I believe that Marvel Studios is well positioned to put Peter Parker through a very similar gauntlet. (Pun intended.) Let’s remember our hero’s circumstances at the end of Far from Home: he’s a fugitive on the run and in possession of technology coveted by every villain, villain group, and government in the world. Sound familiar?
First Name: Edith. Last Name: McGuffin.
Of course, some aspects of the Armor Wars would be more difficult to reconcile as part of what would essentially be an E.D.I.T.H. Wars story. Two of the biggest disappointments of the Iron Man sequels have to be the omission of Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo, but pitting one or both of them against Spider-Man alone would be a mismatch. So unless Peter would manage to collect some allies — Prowler, perhaps? — they’d have to miss the cut once again in spite of their government’s logical interest in a key to Stark’s technology. That means the participants in this re-imagined Armor Wars would have to skew lower on the power scale — The Beetle, The Mauler and a few others who have conveniently sparred with Spider-Man in the comics.
Alternatively, Marvel could do what it has done in several previous films and blend two classic stories. As I’ve mentioned in a prior essay, many fans have long-anticipated the depiction of the Sinister Six in the MCU — and Otto Octavius has used satellites in his strategems in the past, so it’s not difficult to imagine him seeking access to E.D.I.T.H.
Ultimately, the most important elements are already in place — as you have an intensely responsible character who will have to fight to keep hold of a technology that will inevitably harm innocents if it falls into the wrong hands. In this way, Marvel and Disney could manage to have their cake and eat it too — as they will have spread Robert Downey Jr.’s movie appearances across the plot lines they wanted to prioritize while still managing to leave the door open to pillage Iron Man’s back catalog of plot lines for years following his departure. And that, more than anything Quentin Beck planned or accomplished, could be the most impressive feat of smoke in mirrors to come out of Phase 3’s final film.
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