Summary

  • Ultimate Invasion #4 introduces a new version of Tony Stark who goes by the codename Iron Lad instead of Iron Man.
  • The storyline reveals that Tony Stark's decision to become Iron Lad is linked to a possible future version of himself, Kang the Conqueror.
  • The Ultimate Universe, which had been replaced for a while, is making a comeback in Marvel Comics, promising more intriguing developments for characters like Tony Stark.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Ultimate Invasion #4 The Ultimate Universe is in the process of making a major comeback, and the comic series telling that story just made some notable alterations to an alternate-universe version of Tony Stark. While every Marvel fan knows Tony as Iron Man, Ultimate Invasion decided he wasn’t quite ready for that title just yet, and instead gave this Stark variant an all-new codename and armor ahead of the resurgence of the Ultimate Universe.

So far, what fans have seen from Ultimate Invasion is the immense cruelty and the single-minded vision of one man: Reed Richards aka the Maker. While Richards is a hero in Earth-616, the Maker is a version of him from the original Ultimate Universe (or Earth-1610) who lost everything and took a downward spiral into villainy. Indeed, the Maker is one of the most evil super geniuses in the Marvel multiverse, and it’s his access to the multiverse that makes him so scary. In Ultimate Invasion, the Maker travels to the newly-introduced universe of Earth-6160 and uses its Earth and everyone on it (superheroes and villains included) as his own personal science experiments. The Maker robbed this universe of its history, its destiny, and replaced it with a world built on deceit and villainy. However, Earth-6160 wasn’t all doom-and-gloom thanks to the Maker, as he also unwittingly inspired heroes along the way, including and especially Tony Stark, who just made his Marvel Comics debut as Iron Lad (and a possible Kang the Conqueror).

Tony Stark Is Iron Lad In Ultimate Invasion (& A Possible Future Kang)

Tony Stark is Iron Lad.

In Ultimate Invasion #4 by Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch, Kang the Conqueror of Earth-6160 travels back in time with his legion of genetically engineered clones resembling classic Avengers including Captain America, Wasp, Giant-Man, and Thor, just to name a few. He brings this war to the past in order to kill the Maker, and Howard Stark aka this universe’s Iron Man opened that proverbial door through time to allow Kang entry, as Howard hates the Maker perhaps even more than Kang. After the battle is done, Tony Stark - who is just a boy at this time - teams up with this universe’s Doctor Doom (who’s really just a mutilated and psychologically scared Reed Richards, tortured by the Maker for a laugh) to form a new Avengers team. In that effort, Tony designed his own armor, and rather than picking up his father’s mantle as Iron Man, decided to call himself Iron Lad instead, saying that he’d earn the name ‘Iron Man’ sometime in the future.

Tony Stark a possible Kang.

It’s incredibly interesting that Tony Stark claimed the role of Iron Lad, as that’s usually reserved for Nathaniel Richards. Though what’s more interesting is the design of Kang the Conqueror in this storyline as well. So far, it’s been heavily implied (if not downright confirmed) that Earth-6160’s Kang is a possible future version of Tony Stark. Not only is Kang’s suit a dead giveaway, but the fact that Tony calls himself Iron Lad as a young man just like Kang did as a child only makes this unique evolution that much more clear. Ironically, in trying to invade and then reshape an entire universe in his image, the Maker accidentally creates the worst foe he could have ever dreamed of, and this issue gave fans the origin and outcome of Tony Stark’s journey into becoming a possible Kang the Conqueror.

Possible futures of present-day characters aside, Tony Stark suiting up as Iron Lad with an all-new suit and codename with help from his universe’s Doctor Doom is a really fun and interesting departure from his Earth-616 counterpart, and it will likely only be the first of many as the Ultimate Universe makes its long-awaited return to Marvel Comics canon.

Ultimate Invasion #4 by Marvel Comics is available now.