Warning: SPOILERS for Iron Man #1 Tony Stark has no shortage of incredibly powerful Thor’s equal (and, in some ways, his superior), as it is utterly unbreakable, strong enough to bend adamantium like a tin can, makes him invisible to Spider-Man’s spider-sense, and makes Iron Man impervious to all magic. Unfortunately, he lost it.

In Iron Man #1 by Spencer Ackerman and Julius Ohta, Tony Stark is reclaiming Stark Unlimited after it was stolen from in the previous story arc by the villain, Feilong. Feilong brought Stark Unlimited back into weapons manufacturing, which included the Stark Sentinels contracted by Orchis during the X-Men’s Fall of X era. Now that Feilong and Orchis have been defeated, Stark is free to reclaim his company. Unfortunately, there are more than a few hurdles.

Roxxon and AIM have partnered up for a sweeping hostile takeover of Stark Unlimited. The ‘big oil’ and ‘evil scientist’ companies love the idea of having their own weapons manufacturer under their shared umbrella, and Feilong made that possible. While Stark is determined to not let that happen, he has a bigger problem to deal with. Roxxon uses allies from another dimension to bring Justine Hammer (Tony Stark’s former rival) back from the dead, and she delivers the final nail in Stark’s coffin by personally stealing his mysterium armor.

Justine Hammer Has Just Stolen Iron Man’s God-Tier Mysterium Armor

Justine Hammer was Once the Criminal Mastermind, the Crimson Cowl

While Justine Hammer met her end in Invincible Iron Man #527 (before being revived by Roxxon’s mysterious otherworldly allies), she was a high-level criminal for many years before then. Justine has led her own incarnation of the Masters of Evil, has worked with HYDRA, and even has her own evil alter ego: the Crimson Cowl. Like Tony Stark’s Iron Man, Justine Hammer’s Crimson Cowl is a high-tech suit that grants her a number of abilities, including teleportation and levitation. The cowl can also expand to attack and take hold of her opponents, operating purely from her mental commands.

Unfortunately for Justine, her Crimson Cowl wasn’t enough to save her from being killed. However, she learned a thing or two when her soul was trapped in hell - primarily, magic. Justine used magical incantations to disrupt Tony’s armor throughout this issue. Then, when Tony was distracted by suit malfunctions and the hostile takeover of his company, Justine stole the mysterium armor right out from under him. Now, Justine Hammer is more powerful than ever thanks to her newfound magical abilities and the mysterium armor, and only time will tell if Iron Man has what it takes to beat her.

Why It’s Actually a Good Thing Iron Man’s Mysterium Armor was Stolen

While Justine Hammer being in possession of Iron Man’s mysterium armor certainly isn’t good, Tony Stark no longer having it actually is. The mysterium armor simply made Iron Man too invincible. While he wore it, no one could touch him, as the armor is truly indestructible (in the truest sense of the word). Honestly, if Iron Man kept the mysterium, his stories would start to get boring, or Marvel would be forced to introduce insanely powerful foes to match the armor’s strength, which would only undermine how indestructible the armor was to begin with.

It’s clear that Iron Man needs to get the mysterium armor back from Justine Hammer, but once he does, he needs to get rid of it as well. This armor puts him on-par with literal gods like Thor, so there’s no way it could remain as Tony Stark’s base-suit like it was during the Fall of X era. So, while Iron Man still has a chance to get it back, this storyline needs to end with him losing the mysterium armor once and for all - and, if he can’t beat Justine, he may already have.

Iron Man Vol. 7 #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.