Iron Man’s Most Disturbing Armor Was Made From Captain America’s Ex-Girlfriend

When fans think of Tony Stark creating his Iron Man armor they often picture him in a workshop, toiling away with metal and various elements. But his weirdest and most unsettling suit of armor was actually made from a person — Captain America’s ex-girlfriend, to be exact.

In the 2006 comic Marvel Team-Up #22, written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Andy Kuhn, readers are introduced to an alternate universe in which the Scarlet Witch never had her mental breakdown and the Avengers never disbanded. In this reality, the Avengers eventually fight and die in the Titannus War with only Tony Stark surviving. Overcome with grief, this Tony Stark takes over Latveria in the hopes of controlling the world to save it, while the Fantastic Four seeks to stop him. This Tony kills the Human Torch but not before his face is burned and terribly scarred. In order to stop him, Reed Richards banishes Tony Stark to Earth-616.

Upon arriving in the main Marvel timeline, this Tony Stark is captured and held on a SHIELD helicarrier. He escapes captivity and finds Captain America’s ex-girlfriend, Diamondback, who is also being held. It isn’t really Diamondback, though. It is a life model decoy who betrayed Cap on the orders of the Red Skull. But she is also programmed to believe she is actually the real Diamondback. She is still a victim in every sense of the word, but that doesn’t stop this Tony Stark from reprogramming her body to form a new version of Iron Man armor around him. Fully understanding his place as a villain in this reality, this Tony Stark dubs himself the Iron Maniac instead.

Even though this Diamondback is a life model decoy and not a real person, it’s still fairly gross to think this crazed Tony Stark would wear her around his body. Luckily, he wipes her memory before doing so. She is essentially rebooted to her factory setting when Tony has her take the shape of the new armor. Otherwise, the circumstance would be even more sadistic. This poor version of Diamondback would be wrapped around Tony’s body, fully conscious of the fact that she has been manipulated into becoming living armor.

Fortunately, Iron Maniac is eventually defeated. His body is immobilized, but since his armor is actually a fluid being, he allows it to morph off of him to be used as a weapon. Unfortunately for Tony, it leaves him vulnerable to attack. Once the battle is over, Captain America notes that this Tony’s skull has been fractured, but he will otherwise live. So technically, the sadistic version of Iron Man known as the Iron Maniac is still alive in the current Marvel universe, and perhaps he is due for a comeback.

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