Iron Man’s Best Avengers “Enemy” Is She-Hulk, Not Captain America

The rivalry between Iron Man and She-Hulk is one that continuously evolves throughout Marvel Comics which makes them more genuine Avengers ‘enemies’ than Iron Man and Captain America. While Iron Man and Captain American oftentimes disagree on serious issues that result in an all-out brawl, the two generally make up fairly quickly afterwards because the continuation of their storylines depend on it. There is no such pressure with Iron Man and She-Hulk, and the two have been at each other’s throats for years with no narratively-driven reason for them to bury the hatchet. 

Iron Man and She-Hulk have had their differences on a number of issues throughout Marvel Comics, with the fallout of their conflicts resulting in both a physical altercation or a vicious battle of wits. A great example of the latter is shown in She-Hulk #1 by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido. In the issue, Tony Stark’s company gets its hands on some stolen tech from a dead supervillain whose family is suffering as they were hoping to sell the schematics of that technology to keep themselves afloat. Using her expert-level attorney skills, as well as personal manipulation, She-Hulk convinces Iron Man to effectively purchase the technology from the family directly and the lawsuit is dropped and Tony Stark loses a hefty sum of money. 

She-Hulk establishes her physical dominance in She-Hulk #18 by Dan Slott and Rick Burchett. In the issue, She-Hulk goes after Iron Man after she learns that he, along with the other members of the Illuminati, blasted Hulk into space, taking it into their own hands to exile Hulk off-world. The two Marvel heroes share blows in a brutal battle of vengeance and outrage as She-Hulk uses every ounce of strength she has to make Iron Man pay for what he did to her cousin. However, while She-Hulk used her smarts to win the lawsuit battle in She-Hulk #1, Iron Man used his to outmaneuver She-Hulk in this battle. She-Hulk proved to be stronger than Iron Man, so he injected her with a substance specifically made to incapacitate gamma-mutated humans. 

The continuous back and forth between She-Hulk and Iron Man prove that they are constantly not on good terms, and there is no reason for Marvel to change that as opposed to Iron Man’s occasional conflicts with Captain America. But when Iron Man and Captain America are at odds, their conflict usually only lasts for a single storyline before they become friends again. Iron Man and Captain America cannot remain permanent enemies as they are both too popular of heroes to not work together and trying to sell an Avengers comic without Iron Man or Captain America working together ever again in the future would assuredly be a nightmare. 

There is no real need for Iron Man and She-Hulk to like each other, so their conflict rages on, and that longevity gives credibility to the true nature of their mutual disdain. Because there isn’t a narrative reason to have them reconcile and because they have constantly been at odds with one another since their brief romantic relationship, Iron Man’s best Avengers ‘enemy’ is She-Hulk, not Captain America.

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