Iron Man Is Mentoring the MCU’s Newest Hero

Marvel’s newest volume of Invincible Iron Man turns Tony Stark into a mentor for an up-and-coming Marvel Cinematic Universe hero. Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., may be dead in the MCU, but that doesn’t mean his presence isn’t still being felt. Armor Wars, a classic Iron Man story arc from the comics, is being adapted into a feature film starring Don Cheadle’s War Machine, and Riri Williams / Ironheart made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. A new Invincible Iron Man series calls for a new status quo, and that involves mentoring his MCU replacement.

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Invincible Iron Man #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

Invincible Iron Man #1 is by the creative team of Gerry Duggan, Juan Frigeri, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Joe Caramagna. “The Autobiography of Tony Stark” storyline begins with Tony taking a trip down memory lane, where we see his early origins of becoming Iron Man, trouble with alcoholism, life as an Avenger, and more. During these images, we see Tony Stark and Riri Williams looking over schematics for the Mandarin rings. “These days, nothing brings me greater joy than listening to Riri Williams and her galaxy brain,” Tony’s internal monologue says. Instead of living in a luxurious penthouse, Tony is now residing in a public brownstone.

While tinkering around in his brownstone basement, one of his arc reactors explodes, taking down the entire brownstone and killing one of its residents. As for Tony Stark, his body is in the rubble and taken to a hospital, where his close friends Captain America, War Machine, and Ironheart check in on him. Tony claims the reactor explosion wasn’t an accident. Riri even backs this up by saying her findings came back inconclusive as well. Once he’s back on his feet, Tony takes his newest Iron Man armor for a test drive, where he’s confronted by a mysterious armored adversary who goads him with improper relations involving Riri.

The Invincible Iron Man vs. Ironheart

Future solicits for Invincible Iron Man #2 tease a knockout fight between the Armored Avenger and Ironheart. A cover by Kael Ngu also shows Ironheart striking Iron Man across the chest. The description of January’s Invincible Iron Man #2 reads, “IRON MAN VS. IRONHEART! The assassination attempts on Tony’s life continue as a familiar foe returns to take him down. It’ll be up to Iron Man and Ironheart to stop him? But what secret is Riri Williams harboring from Tony? And will this change their relationship forever?”

Ironheart doesn’t have an ongoing comic at the moment, but at least she appears to be a major supporting character in Invincible Iron Man. Marvel previously published an Ironheart series in 2018-2019 from Eve L. Ewing, Luciano Vecchio, Geoffo, and Kevin Libranda. Dominique Thorne will play Ironheart in a Disney+ series, tentatively scheduled for 2023.

Invincible Iron Man #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics. Let us know your thoughts on the issue in the comments.