Iron Man’s Newest Armor Gives Him a Doctor Octopus Inspired Redesign

Tony Stark has famously gone to war in the past to stop anyone using his Iron Man tech without his permission, and yet cover art for Christopher Cantwell and Ibraim Roberson’s Iron Man #15 shows he may not be so respectful in return, especially when it comes to Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus.

The art is part of a new ‘Villains’ Reign’ variant cover series to celebrate Marvel’s Devil’s Reign event, in which Kingpin has outlawed superhero activity in New York, abusing his power as mayor to settle some old scores and force Matt Murdock to reveal his secret identity. The covers depict beloved Marvel heroes transformed into surprising villains, for example turning the Thing into Doctor Doom, Wolverine’s nemesis Sabretooth into the Black Panther, and Hulk into the Kingpin himself.

In the variant cover for Iron Man #15, shared to Twitter by artist Derrick Chew, Tony Stark boasts new armor fitted with his own version of Doctor Octopus’ tentacles. Tony actually has a shady history of taking supervillain tech for his own – in 2014’s She-Hulk #1 (by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido) it’s revealed his company stole inventions by disgraced inventor Jonas Harrow – and he has a particularly dark personal relationship with Otto Octavius stretching back to their early careers. While comic variant covers aren’t necessarily indicative of the comics on which they appear, there’s an outside chance Devil’s Reign could feature this “Iron Octopus” suit at some point. Tie-in series Devil’s Reign: Superior Four will see Doctor Octopus searching the multiverse for versions of himself, with cover art depicting tentacled versions of Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider. If those unlikely heroes are getting an Octopus-makeover, it’s possible Tony will too.

Even if Devil’s Reign: Superior Four doesn’t add this new armor to canon, it could still make the jump from cover art to story simply through fan demand. This happened for Gwenpool, a Deadpool/Gwen Stacy mashup created for a cover initiative who proved so popular she was given her own backstory and place in the Marvel Universe. Iron Man incorporating Doctor Octopus’ tentacles into his armor would actually make a strange amount of sense, given that both are pioneers in thought-controlled prehensile technology. Octavius and Stark have clashed in the past, finding themselves at odds as young scientists, with Doctor Octopus later bending Tony to his will via the threat of a nuclear bomb. Though Tony disdains Octavius as a scientist, the comics tend to agree that his arms are a singularly miraculous invention, and Iron Man has never been above adapting his armor in whatever way addresses the most recent threat.

Of course, it’s equally possible fans could see this “Iron Octopus” armor return if Otto Octavius takes Iron Man’s place. The swapping of roles between heroes and villains represented by the Villains’ Reign cover initiative is a familiar and much-loved concept. Both Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, and Doctor Doom spent significant time wearing their own versions of Tony’s armor as the Iron Patriot and Infamous Iron Man, while Doctor Octopus took over Peter Parker’s body to become the Superior Spider-Man in a move that’s still controversial among fans of the Wall-Crawler.

Available now, Derrick Chew’s Iron Man #15 cover is an awesome idea of how Doctor Octopus and Iron Man could merge to form a new suit for Tony, and hopefully one fans will actually get to see in action in future comics.

Source: Derrick Chew

About The Author

Robert Wood
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Robert Wood is a comics editor for Screen Rant and the author of ‘The False Elephant (and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories).’ He received his Master’s in English Literature from Lancaster University, and now happily spends his days applying it to Daredevil and the Hulk.

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