This year Marvel is shaking up the Iron Man franchise in a big way by replacing Tony Stark with a new, African-American, teenage female protagonist named Riri Williams. It's shaping up to be one of the biggest changes in a post-Civil War II Marvel Universe.
But as major a development as this is, Riri is hardly the first hero to take over the mantle of Iron Man. Join us as we take a look back at some of the other characters who once called themselves Iron Man... or at least took the armor out for a spin.
As seen in: Iron Man #170 (1983)
With James Rhodes taking a job as Tony Stark's personal pilot, it was only ever a matter of time before he was forced to suit up as Iron man and save his boss' butt. That moment came during the midst of Tony's downward spiral while battling his rival, Obadiah Stane. With Tony too drunk and self-loathing to stop the supervillain, Magma, Rhodey had no choice but to get the job done himself. It wasn't the first time someone else put on the Iron Man armor, but it was a crucial step in Rhodey's evolution from ordinary man to superhero.
Rhodey wore the armor many times after that, but eventually he went solo and started calling himself War Machine. Compared to Iron Man's sleek, red and yellow suit, the war Machine armor is bigger, bulkier, and packed to the gills with extra firepower. Unfortunately, that firepower wasn't enough to save Rhodey from a tragic fate in Civil War II.
As seen in: Marvel Knights Spider-Man #20
Once upon a time, the idea of frail, sickly old Aunt May donning an Iron Man armor was the stuff of What If? comics. But both May and her nephew's then-wife, Mary Jane, suited up as part of the Spider-Man crossover "The Other." Tony lent them a pair of bulky old suits so they could join Peter in invading Doctor Doom's castle and borrowing Doom's time machine. This allowed them to travel back and observe the fateful day when Ben and Mary Parker left their son in the care of Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
While May ended her superhero career there, Mary Jane seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Recently in the pages of Invincible Iron Man, she took a new job as Tony's personal assistant. She even briefly donned the Iron Spider costume to help Tony and Peter deal with the villain known as Regent. At this point, and with Tony's life and business in shambles once more, it may only be a matter of time before MJ has to become Iron Man again.
As seen in: Machine Man #2 (1984)
The robotic hero Machine Man was the first character to encounter Arno Stark, the future son of Tony's sinister cousin, Morgan. In the year 2020, Arno has taken over Stark Enterprises and the Iron Man armor. But rather than using that technology for good, he prefers to wreak chaos and hire himself out as a mercenary. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems.
But with the actual 2020 fast approaching, Marvel apparently felt the need to give Arno Stark a major overhaul. Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Dale Eaglesham recently introduced a new, in-continuity version of Arno. But rather than a first cousin once removed, this Arno is actually Tony's adoptive brother. Tony learned that he was adopted by the Starks and that their biological son, Arno, was kept hidden from the world because of a debilitating medical condition. The two reunited brothers began working together to build Troy, a self-styled "city of the future." Arno even donned his own suit of Iron Man armor to help Tony defend Troy from Malekith.
As seen in: Dark Avengers #1 (2009)
Norman Osborn graduated from Spider-Man's #1 nemesis to enemy of superheroes everywhere when he rose to power in Marvel's "Dark Reign" storyline. Osborn found himself leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., which he immediately re-christened H.A.M.M.E.R. Osborn also inherited Tony Stark's armory. Osborn donned the armor for himself, and after a less-than-subtle new paint job, he introduced himself to the public as Iron Patriot. Together with the likes of Moonstone, Venom and Daken, he formed a new Avengers team comprised entirely of villains masquerading as heroes.
Naturally, Osborn came into conflict with the fugitive Tony Stark several times over the course of Dark Reign. But ultimately, Osborn lacked Tony's understanding of his armor, leaving him vulnerable to being hacked in their final confrontation. And when the Iron Patriot was destroyed, readers saw that the same, crazy old Osborn still lurked beneath.
Since then, several other heroes have worn the Iron Patriot armor in an attempt to wash away the stigma of Norman Osborn. Even Jim Rhodes briefly traded in his War Machine suit for a more patriotic model.
As seen in: Iron Man #300 (1994)
When you work closely with Tony Stark, sooner or later it falls on you to don the Iron Man armor in defense of the world. But once in a while, the world needs several Iron Men at a time. Such was the case in the pivotal Iron Man #300 when Tony was left comatose after battling Ultimo. In his place, War Machine led a team that included an eclectic mix of Tony's allies and former enemies - Happy Hogan, Bethany Cabe, Eddie March, Carl Walker and Eddie O'Brien. Each of them donned one of Tony's vintage Iron Man suits and battled Ultimo long enough for a revived Tony to debut his swanky Modular Armor.
Most of these characters had worn an Iron Man armor (or a similar suit) before. Happy in particular used to have a habit of playing Iron Man and helping maintain his boss' secret identity. But nothing beats seeing all five heroes fighting alongside one another.
As seen in: The Invincible Iron Man #10 (2009)
For many years, Pepper Potts has served as Tony Stark's faithful secretary and occasional lover. But she added a new bullet point to her resume when she was forced to become the new Iron Man during the events of Dark Reign. With Tony on the run and Norman Osborn making a mockery of his legacy, Pepper donned an advanced new suit and took the name Rescue. As the name suggests, the Rescue armor is more geared towards saving civilian lives than battling angry supervillains, and that's just what Pepper did while Tony fought to end Osborn's reign.
Pepper has remained a superhero even after Tony cleared his name and regained his company. She's even been through several new incarnations of the suit since. But these days, she's more enemy than ally to Tony. Thanks to Tony's questionable actions in The Superior Iron Man, Pepper has struck out on her own.
As seen in: Iron Man #87 (2004)
When Tony Stark emerged from the Heroes Reborn pocket universe in the late '90s, he discovered that his company had been taken over by a Japanese businessman and rebranded Stark-Fujikawa. That status quo lasted until 2004, when a villain named Clarence Ward brought Stark-Fujikawa crashing down. Ward stole one of Tony's Iron Man armors and used it to murder the Stark-Fujikawa board of directors. Even Tony's girlfriend, Rumiko Fujikawa, wasn't spared from Ward's wrath.
Ward perished in battle with the real Iron Man shortly after, but the ordeal left scars on Tony's psyche that persist even today.
As seen in: Tales of Suspense #65 (1965)
With a name like "Weasel Willis," this guy was pretty much destined to become a supervillain. Weasel became the first character to steal the Iron Man mantle from Tony Stark in this early tale from writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck. The Iron Man-obsessed criminal managed to sneak into Stark Enterprises and steal Tony's trademark briefcase armor. He then went on a destructive rampage across the city.
Unfortunately for Tony, this was in an era before he had an armory full of old suits to call upon. He was forced to don his bulky, archaic Mark I armor and face the more powerful Weasel in open combat. Tony basically employed the Homer Simpson approach, banking on his more durable suit keeping him alive and letting Weasel waste all his energy. Surprisingly enough, it worked.
As seen in: Bullet Points #1 (2007)
Bullet Points is basically a lengthier take on Marvel's What If? comics. This alternate universe comic explored a world where Dr. Erskine was killed before he could transform frail Steve Rogers into Captain America. That one act caused a butterfly effect that caused Marvel's iconic heroes to emerge in strange and unusual forms. Instead of Project: Rebirth, Steve became a test subject in Project: Iron Man. His weak body became permanently grafted to a massive, indestructible suit of armor, a suit that helped the Allies win WWII.
Unfortunately, life took a pretty dark turn for this strange version of Iron Man. Steve died fighting the Hulk, who in this universe is none other than Peter Parker. Apparently Steve is better off being frozen in ice for a few decades.
As seen in: Deadpool #7 (2013)
The 2012-2015 volume of Deadpool had a habit of breaking away from its ongoing storylines to showcase various retro-flavored adventures set in Deadpool's past. In one such adventure, Wade was hired to sabotage Tony Stark's already ailing business empire by convincing him to start drinking again. Instead, Wade wound up renewing Tony's commitment to sobriety and then borrowing the Iron Man armor to have a little fun. For one day, the Merc With a Mouth became the Armored Avenger. And because he was seriously drunk the entire time, technically Wade fulfilled his contract.
As seen in: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2 (2015)
Squirrel Girl has a long history with Ol' Shellhead. In her very first appearance she teamed up with Iron Man and took down Doctor Doom with a little help from her furry woodland friends. So it's only fitting that she rekindle that friendship in her own comic book series, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
Actually, Tony was a little busy at the time, so Squirrel Girl took the liberty of borrowing a few pieces of scrap armor and designing herself a custom Iron Man suit (including armor for her tail). But she did it for a noble cause, as she she needed to fly to the moon and stop Galactus from devouring Earth. Thanks to Tony's garbage and the universal appeal of nuts, she saved the day and sent the Devourer of Worlds on his merry way.
As seen in: Iron Lantern #1 (1997)
Even Green Lantern Hal Jordan once wore the Iron Man armor. Sort of.
In the mid-'90s, back when both companies were still on speaking terms, Marvel and DC hatched an ambitious crossover of their two superhero universes. The two universes collided in a mini-series called DC vs. Marvel, eventually spawning a short-lived mash-up universe called Amalgam.
In the Amalgam Universe, all heroes are fusions of iconic Marvel and DC characters. Tony Stark and Hal Jordan combined to form Hal Stark, a hotshot billionaire owner of an aircraft manufacturer who gains possession of a powerful armored suit from an alien named Rhomann Sur. Everything about the Iron Lantern combined elements from both franchises. It's almost a shame this powerful hero had such a short shelf life.
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
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