Iron Man Secretly Wishes He Was Another Marvel Hero (and You’ll Never Guess Which One)

Iron Man may be one of the most popular heroes in the Marvel Universe, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t secretly wish he was another hero. Iron Man’s popularity soared after Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of the Armored Avenger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s now a household name right up there with the likes of Spider-Man. But even a narcissist like Iron Man can envy those around him, like his teammates on the Avengers. Because as Marvel just revealed, Iron Man has a closely guarded wish that involves switching places with another of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Avengers #23. Continue reading at your own risk!

Avengers #23 comes from the creative team of Jed MacKay, Farid Karami, Federico Blee, and VC’s Cory Petit. Part 2 of “The Casino Job” features the Avengers attempting to rob the Grandmaster’s space casino to retrieve a data archive that previously belonged to Kang the Conqueror. The heist was going according to plan, except for the part where Kang and Black Cat had already stolen the archive. Kang and Black Cat try to escape but are eventually corned by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. During the fight, Iron Man reveals his deepest wish, and you’ll never believe that it’s to be Captain America.

Iron Man’s deepest wish is to be Captain America

When the Avengers corner Kang the Conqueror and Black Cat, Kang calls in some reinforcements from the bounty hunter Gatecrasher and her Technet gang. Gatecrasher and Technet get the drop on Storm, Vision, and Scarlet Witch, but Captain Marvel, Captain America (Sam Wilson), and Iron Man appear to even the odds. Iron Man gets squared up against a floating baby in a hover chair named Joyboy. Iron Man has files on Technet, revealing that Joyboy can turn you into your deepest wish. But before he can finish his sentence, Joyboy has already turned Iron Man into Captain America.

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“Oh, well this is embarrassing—,” Iron Man says after he sees himself in Captain America’s uniform. It’s a rather funny look for Tony Stark since his black goatee can be seen through Cap’s mask. Later in the fight, Iron Man levels Joyboy with a right punch, and even Tony can recognize how wrong it is to punch a baby while dressed as Captain America.

“Tony, my boy, you’ve found a whole new rock bottom…,” he says.

With Technet defeated, Gatecrasher calls for a hasty retreat, and Tony’s costume transforms from Captain America back to Iron Man. Kang and Black Cat hand over the data archive to Captain Marvel, but when she opens it she finds it empty. We learn Black Cat only agreed to help Kang if her deceased father, Walter Hardy the original Black Cat, was also a part of the job. We then flashback 20 years into the past to see Kang and Felicia Hardy recruit a young Walter Hardy. While Kang and Black Cat kept the Avengers busy, Walter ran off with the archive.

Marvel continues to tie Iron Man to Captain America

Iron Man and Captain America are the backbone of the Avengers in the MCU. While they work great together, their stubbornness and differences came to a head in Captain America: Civil War. Their tension-filled fight led to the disassembling of the Avengers, which came at a bad time since Thanos and his Black Order invaded Earth several years later. Of course, Iron Man and Captain America eventually made up and assembled in the Battle of Earth, where Iron Man sacrificed himself to defeat the Mad Titan.

As for Marvel’s Avengers comic, Kang the Conqueror called in his fleet lear from warspace, teasing a climactic battle to come in Avengers #24. Who will walk away with the data archive? The Avenger or the villainous Kang the Conqueror? Find out next month True Believers.