10 Things Only Comic Book Fans Know About The Superior Iron Man

The Super Bowl trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness contained tons of tantalizing characters, and one of the most intriguing is someone who appears to be the Superior Iron Man. This variant of Tony Stark looks to be fighting the Scarlet Witch in the compound of the MCU version of the Illuminati in some of the most scrutinized shots in the trailer.

There are many clues in the trailer to support the theory this is the Superior Iron Man, and many more lie in the comics. Comic book fans know Superior Iron Man is one of the most powerful and one of the most corrupt versions of Tony Stark, and his possible appearance in the movie signals that some major events are about to unfold in the MCU in the near future.

Inverted Iron Man

The Superior Iron Man is actually one of the darkest versions of the character. His entire personality was inverted in 2015’s Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #9 by a magical spell that brought all of his worst traits to the forefront, including his greed and ego.

Iron Man then moves to San Francisco and begins developing a new, free app that became very popular. But the app was actually the Extremis 3.0 virus, and it infected all of its millions of users. Worse, Tony Stark then started charging people to keep using it.

The AXIS Event

Iron Man’s inversion comes about out of a cataclysmic spell intended to defeat the Red Onslaught version of Red Skull. It ended up being one of the worst things the Scarlet Witch ever did in Marvel Comics, reversing the morality of everyone affected.

The spell is ultimately undone, but Tony Stark shielded himself from it by virtue of his armor. He walked away from the battle as one of the very few who remained inverted, though it wouldn’t become obvious for some time.

The Endo-Sym Armor

One of the reasons fans speculate that the Superior Iron Man is in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is due to the armor the character in the movie appears to be wearing. Stark adopted an all-chrome version in the comics after the spell that utilizes aspects of the alien symbiote that created Venom. In this armor, he’s one of the most powerful variants of Iron Man in the comics.

This armor has another unique feature that appears to be on display in the Super Bowl trailer for the movie. The armor glows orange when Stark gets angry, and that appears to be the case with the variant as he fights the Scarlet Witch in the trailer.

The Battle With Teen Abomination

One of Superior Iron Man’s first battles in the comics is against Teen Abomination, a younger version of the classic Hulk villain. Given Abomination has returned in the MCU recently, it’s not out of the question this variant appears in live-action as well.

Teen Abomination is a teenage boy who was exposed to gamma radiation and has no connection to Emil Blonsky. Despite his strength, he’s no match for Superior Iron Man’s power or his self-centered nature, which manifests in his advising him on his ‘brand.’

The Iron Sight

Another major indicator of the Superior Iron Man’s presence in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the presence of what appear to be Ultron drones. These may in fact be part of the Iron Sight, a network of chrome drones Superior Iron Man deployed in the comics.

The Iron Sight was focused primarily on monitoring crime in and around San Francisco, as well as some protection. Though the movie versions look more like the most powerful variants of Ultron in the comics, they could be linked to the Iron Sight.

Restoring Daredevil’s Vision

At this time in the comics, Daredevil is also based in San Francisco in some of the best Daredevil comics ever. Daredevil confronted Iron Man over his actions, which led to perhaps the biggest display of Superior Iron Man’s power in the comics – he restored Daredevil’s vision with the Extremis virus.

Daredevil had criticized Tony for playing God as the Superior Iron Man, but Tony replied that he was ‘playing human.’ Though Matt Murdock’s vision was restored only for a short time, it showed how powerful Iron Man had become, and how deluded.

Superior Iron Man’s Plan

The battle between Superior Iron Man and Daredevil escalates dramatically when Daredevil reveals he has learned Tony Stark’s ultimate plan. He realizes the app can’t communicate the Extremis virus, so there must be another method Stark is using.

The Superior Iron Man is polluting the water supply of San Francisco with the virus, so everyone is exposed. He can then trigger its activation later. To hide the truth, he attacks Daredevil and forcibly removes his memory of the event.

Battle Of The Iron Men

In The Superior Iron Man #7, Pepper Potts has discovered Tony’s inverted state. To save him and the world, she programs an AI version of the regular Tony Stark into the original red and gold Iron Man armor, leading to a major battle.

The battle grows to include most of Iron Man’s early armors but ends with the Superior Iron Man triumphant. Though he defeats the AI, he loses Pepper, who walks out on him with plans to publically reveal the truth about Extremis.

The Illuminati

In what might be the biggest hint Superior Iron Man in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he is captured and placed in a glass cube cell similar to those in the movie. He’s rescued by the Illuminati, of which he is a member.

Tony Stark was a founding member of the Illuminati and present for many of its most clandestine actions, including the erasure of Captain America’s memory regarding their existence. This would ultimately have major consequences for Superior Iron Man.

The Death Of The Superior Iron Man

The end comes for the Superior Iron Man in Avengers #44, in the lead-up to 2015’s Secret Wars. He fights an older variant of Captain America to the death after Steve Rogers learns that Iron Man knew about the collapse of the multiverse all along.

The two slug it out in one of the most brutal fights in Marvel Comics, far more devastating than their iconic battle in Civil War, and both are killed in the end by the crash of a gigantic S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.

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