It’s 1987 and Tony Stark’s technology has been stolen. His technology is now used by a series of armored villains. It’s Tony’s worst nightmare: his technology is being used to hurt people again after he attempted to stop the arms trade. Now he tries to destroy all armored suits based on his designs, but he also has to fight against his own internal demons.
armor wars is a pivotal storyline to understanding Tony Stark in Marvel Comics and a dramatic journey of one man’s struggle with guilt and responsibility. It’s an underrated storyline with amazing art from Mark D. Bright and Barry Windsor-Smith. However, with Stark dead in the MCU and Don Cheadle’s Rhodey set to work for the next armor wars movie, the question is how all that will change, given how specific armor wars is after Tony’s comic strip line. In the interest of understanding the upcoming movie, which Don Cheadle says will be true to the comics, here’s a rundown of the armor wars Marvel Comics storyline and some theories about how it might fit into the MCU.
Armor Wars Comics Storyline
armor wars is a classic self-destructive Iron Man storyline. His technology is stolen by a figure known as the Spymaster and then sold to various villains who used their own armored suits. These villains then integrate Stark’s designs into their own technology. For Tony, someone who originally became Iron Man because of his guilt as an amoral arms dealer, this is exactly his worst nightmare: his own technology used to hurt people on a massive scale. Stark then decides to proceed with what can only be described as a rampage, attacking these armored villains and then destroying their technology with special circuit packs.
armor wars effectively brought Stark into conflict with a range of colorful armored villains, from Stilt-Man to the Russian Crimson Dynamo. However, it also brought him into conflict with the superhero side of the world. His attack on US agent Stingray prompted the government to shut down Iron Man. In addition, he fought SHIELD and destroyed several armor that he had made for them. Tony also starts a fight with Steve Rogers that temporarily destroys Captain America’s trust in him. The whole situation leads Tony into a self-destructive spiral. He is even kicked out of the West Coast Avengers and eventually nearly killed by an associate of Justin Hammer. He eventually comes back to defeat that worker named Firepower, but much of the damage from the events of armor wars has already been done.
Armor Wars epilogue, explained
The most effective moment of the armor wars comics storyline is an epilogue in which Tony seemingly has to fight a metal monster. It is slowly revealed that the monster is a symbolic stand-in for Tony himself, and that he is dreaming. The section is about many of Tony’s demons, his alcoholism, his guilt and his own fear of becoming the monster of his own story.
in the end, armor wars is an unfortunate story. Faced with what is his worst nightmare, Tony goes so deep into his battle against the machines he’s made that he ends up alienating many of his friends and allies. In the end, despite taking out all the suits based on his technology, it might have all been for naught. The epilogue makes it clear that he can’t really fight the monster he’s created and the guilt that comes with it. He has to accept that his inventions have taken lives.
How the comic book line could fit into the MCU
We need to get rid of the elephant in the room first: Tony Stark is dead. Iron Man sacrificed himself in the final battle of Avengers: Endgame to kill Thanos and stop his marauding army. This is a bit of a problem for armor wars, who is so wrapped up in Tony’s guilt and self-destructive habits. If Tony were alive, Marvel Studios could adapt armor wars straight into a fourth Iron Man movie. However, now the lead role in this film has been transferred to Don Cheadle’s War Machine.
This is worrying, but also very exciting. One problematic possibility is that Disney’s premise of armor warsessentially from people stealing Tony’s invention, but not quite the themes. armor wars could work as a straight forward Rhodey storyline beating up all the people who stole from Tony, but essentially that would be a waste of an incredibly emotional story. A more interesting possibility is that Rhodey finds itself in a spiral of self-destruction. Exploring Rhodey’s character just like Sam Wilson in Falcon and the winter soldier, can be very interesting. It’ll be a challenge to find what could make Rhodey go in a similar spiral as he’s a lot more level-headed and direct than Stark, but it’s critical for the adaptation to catch the tone. Who is the main character of armor wars must grapple on some level with the guilt and suffering of Tony’s legacy of inventions.
There is also plenty of opportunity for cameos in the storyline. The West Coast Avengers, led by Hawkeye, appear briefly in the storyline. Steve Rogers shows up, so if they wanted to pay tribute to that, they could have a fight between War Machine and the new Captain America, Sam Wilson. It’s also a chance to see a whole host of different villains. a return of Justin Hammer by Sam Rockwell can also be very beautiful to look at. One of the villains mentioned who may have used Stark tech but didn’t quite make it into the comic was Doctor Doom, who will most likely see the MCU in the coming months. Fantastic four movie. Whatever Disney does, hopefully they realize that this storyline isn’t your usual comic bookline. Someone has to suffer the whole movie. A typical happy miracle movie won’t quite capture the spirit of the comic book armor wars.