Iron Man’s Worst Nightmare Comes to Life in a Way the MCU Could Never Show

Summary

• Iron Man faces his biggest fear in The Invincible Iron Man #17: Magneto, who can crush him like a soda can.
• Unlike other foes, Magneto poses a visceral threat to Tony Stark, as he can control metal and bury Iron Man alive.
• Iron Man has outsmarted Magneto before, using a suit built from carbon nano-tubes to withstand the Master of Magnetism.

Warning: Spoilers for The Invincible Iron Man #17 Ahead!Iron Man may just be pretending to hit rock bottom, but his nightmares suggest that Tony Stark is putting on less of an act than he claims. In The Invincible Iron Man series, Tony’s been writing his autobiography and revisiting some of his biggest adventures and foes. One name that the MCU could never talk about has repeatedly come up – Magneto.

As Tony says in a flashback from when he still tried to keep his Iron Man identity a secret, “When your bodyguard flies around in a metal suit all day, you tend to think a lot about the guy who can crush it like a soda can.” Even though Feilong and Orchis are responsible for Tony’s downfall and the mutant massacre, his nightmares center around a figure who’s supposed to be dead. It all comes to a terrifying head in The Invincible Iron Man #17 by Gerry Duggan and Patch Zircher, where Tony hallucinates Magneto attacking him and burying him alive.

However, as anyone who’s even heard of Marvel’s Resurrection of Magneto series can guess, the Master of Magnetism won’t be down for long, and he’s coming for Iron Man.

The MCU Couldn’t Show Iron Man’s Biggest Threat

While the MCU did address Iron Man’s PTSD and fears of failure, it could never touch the villain who could really take him down. Justin Hammer, Obadiah Stane, and Aldrich Killian were fellow geniuses, but Tony Stark could easily outsmart them, as he has been outsmarting Feilong in The Invincible Iron Man. The threat that Magneto poses to Tony is much more visceral. His ability to move and shape metal means he can keep Iron Man at bay, or pull Tony closer and bury him in his own suit. Even Robert Downey Jr. wouldn’t be able to quip his way out of that.

While Tony’s subconscious makes him relive these fears every night, in practice, Iron Man did hold his own against Magneto when the two went toe-to-toe in 2012’s Avengers vs. X-Men. Creating a suit built from carbon nano-tubes instead of metal, Stark also launched satellites to Jupiter, harnessing a planetary gravitational pull that even Magneto struggled against. Magneto was ultimately distracted by the Phoenix Force, losing the will to fight, but the fact that Tony could survive the fight using his wits (and his bank account) revealed that he has less to fear than he thinks, as long as he’s prepared.

What Will Happen When Magneto Meets Mysterium?

The Answer Could Dictate the Fate of the World

Luckily for them both, for now Magneto and Iron Man are on the same side, with the Master of Magnetism showing up at the end of The Invincible Iron Man #17 to lend Tony a hand. While Orchis has been preparing for every eventuality, they may not have expected they’d have to take on the seemingly-deceased-for-good-this-time Magneto.

Tony’s latest suit is made of the mutant metal mysterium, which has withstood or nullified powers from other Marvel heroes, potentially defending him against Magneto should the tides turn. However, a clone of Magneto was able to manipulate a less-refined form of mysterium, so it remains to be seen if this team-up will save the world, or turn into Iron Man’s latest nightmare.

The Invincible Iron Man #17 is available now from Marvel Comics.

• 

  Iron Man

  Alias:

  Iron Man

  Created By:

  Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber

  FIRST APP:

  “Tales of Suspense” #39 (1963)

  POWERS:

  Genius intellect, armor providing flight, hacking, superhuman strength, reflexes, and durability.

  TEAM:

  The Avengers

  HISTORY:

  Famous to the world as a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, Anthony “Tony” Stark has seen as many transformations, rebirths, and updates as his iconic suits of armor. The adopted son of industrialist (and weapons manufacturer) Howard Stark, Tony became the head of the empire with his parents’ untimely death… leading to his capture by terrorists overseas.Creating a suit of powered armor to escape, Tony used his newfound tech to begin a career as Iron Man, devoting his life to dismantling the weapons and villainy he unknowingly spread around the globe. Whether as a hero, an Avenger, a member of the Illuminati, or the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark has been at the heart of nearly every event to shape the Marvel Universe.

  NAME:

  Anthony Edward “Tony” Stark

  RELATIONSHIPS:

  Jude (biological father), Amanda Armstrong (biological mother), Howard Stark (adoptive father), Maria Stark (adoptive mother), Arno Stark (brother)

  Age:

  53 (In MCU)

  Franchise:

  Marvel

  Height:

  6’1″

  Video Games:

  LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, Marvel’s Avengers