Iron Man’s Perfect Armor Evolution Would Never Work in the MCU

While Civil War may have upended the Marvel Universe, turning longtime allies into bitter enemies, the clash was a major win for Iron Man. When Captain America surrendered after seeing the conflict’s effect on civilians, Tony’s vision of the future came to pass, with Registration becoming the law of the land, the Avengers Initiative establishing a trained superhero team in every state, and Stark taking over as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Skrull Invasion and Captain America’s apparent assassination meant dark days were ahead, but in the final issue of the comic event, Iron Man has everything he wanted. Of course, things could have gone very differently.

In Marvel’s 2015 Secret Wars event, the multiverse was destroyed, with Doctor Doom creating a single planet from the last shreds of all possible realities, separated by vast walls that (mostly) allowed them to play out as independent worlds. In one, fans got to see what would have happened if – after the Skrulls sabotaged Iron Man’s interdimensional Prison 42, vastly increasing the destruction of the event’s final battle – the superhero Civil War never ended, and America ended up literally split between Captain America and Iron Man. This is the reality of Civil War: Warzones!, by Charles Soule and Leinil Francis Yu.

Six years after the climactic battle, the two heroes enter peace talks, but things have drastically changed. Captain America runs the Blue – an unrecognized nation founded on radical freedom – while Iron Man presides over the ultra-regimented Iron. Having a whole nation to himself agrees with Tony, who has built a technological “utopia,” and boasts one of his most most powerful suits ever. Turning his usual abilities up to 11 while simultaneously allowing him to operate drone units, the modular suit is augmented by the technology Tony used to create Civil War‘s cyborg clone of Thor, allowing him to discharge lightning and hit with godlike strength. However, the detail that makes this the perfect suit for this alternate timeline is that Tony’s faceplate is transparent. Having fought and lost for the ideal of accountable heroes, Tony stands by his principles, finding a way to avoid wearing a mask even when he’s fully suited up.

Many fans forget that Civil War actually saw Tony Stark publicly unmask as Iron Man. Having done so multiple times before only to take back the reveal, and overshadowed by Spider-Man’s own declaration, Tony’s disclosure is easy to overlook. Nevertheless, it was a necessity of his stance that superheroes needed to be accountable to the government, and a major step that permanently made his identity public knowledge.

However, following Civil War, Tony continued to wear his familiar armor, with one former ally suggesting that his shame at Captain America’s death led him to hide his face whenever possible. This alternate suit seems to confirm that theory, revealing that had Tony been forced into a stalemate, he would have been far truer to his ideals. This version of Tony is only able to find some sense of unity with Captain America after the two discover their feud has been created by the Skrulls, leading to a plan that brings the fractured nation back together.

Civil War was a test of character that Iron Man ultimately failed, as he relied on unconscionable means to achieve victory. Civil War: Warzones! takes the stance that Iron Man and Captain America’s failure to work together was their biggest mistake, and while it doesn’t let Tony off the hook for his fanatical devotion to his personal vision, his armor is the clearest possible signal that he truly believed in the ideals he was championing, and would have rebuilt both America and himself around them if things had gone differently.

About The Author

Robert Wood
(399 Articles Published)

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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