Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is one of Marvel’s greatest heroes thanks to his brilliant mind and powerful suits of armor. Tony has needed these suits to contend with some of the most dangerous and cunning supervillains in the world, including the Mandarin, Iron Monger, Whiplash, and Crimson Dynamo. While these villains are justifiably very popular and menacing, Tony has many other great supervillains who are rarely talked about. Despite their lack of notoriety, the powers and weapons these underrated Marvel supervillains possess routinely push Tony to fight for his very survival, making them characters worthy of more recognition and appreciation.
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From savage mechanical parasites to beings of pure energy, these are the greatest foes of Iron Man that deserve more time in the spotlight.
5) Technovore
When two astronaut scientists tried to create functional nanotechnology in space, the result was a vicious, ever-changing mechanical parasite called Technovore that only desires to feed and grow stronger. When Tony fights Technovore, he must be careful not to let the vicious creature touch his armor because a touch alone would allow Technovore to and take control of his armor. With its nanite composition, Technovore is practically unkillable, as it can regenerate from any damage. In addition to assimilating surrounding technology to strengthen itself, Technovore can also adapt and create countermeasures to any weapons and viruses thrown at it. Technovore’s abilities pose a unique and menacing challenge for Tony. Unfortunately, Marvel rarely uses this fascinating supervillain.
4) Dreadknight
Bram Velsing, aka Dreadknight, was a brilliant Latverian scientist until his hubris led Doctor Doom to graft permanently a metal helmet onto his head. Naturally, Dreadknight swore revenge against Doctor Doom and planned to unleash a monster army to destroy the dictator and conquer Latveria, not caring how many innocent people died in the process. Dreadknight’s plan was thwarted by Tony, who became the new target of the villain’s rage. Dreadknight’s primary weapons are a lance that fires lasers and a winged horse that breathes fire. Dreadknight has battled Tony on many occasions and even joined the Mad Thinker’s reincarnation of the Masters of Evil. With his aesthetic that combines advanced technology and gothic horror, Dreadknight is a fearsome foe for Tony to overcome who needs more appearances.
3) Firepower
Tony has plenty of armored adversaries, but the mercenary Jack Taggert, aka Firepower, is one of the most dangerous. When Tony set out to destroy every piece of his stolen tech during the events of “Armor Wars,” his reckless behavior eventually led the U.S. Government to deploy the two-ton juggernaut Firepower to stop the Armored Avenger. In their first encounter, Firepower easily overwhelmed Tony with his vast arsenal of lasers, grenades, and missiles. Only by redesigning his own suit to counteract Firepower’s weaponry did Tony manage to beat him. Since then, Firepower has appeared sporadically, continuing to act as a mercenary. Although he’s not as popular as some other armored villains like Crimson Dynamo and Iron Monger, Firepower’s nature as a walking armory makes him an incredibly menacing adversary.
2) Ultimo
Superman has Doomsday, and Iron Man has Ultimo. Standing several stories tall, Ultimo is a gigantic alien robot whose only goal is to destroy everything in its path. Before arriving on Earth, Ultimo annihilated an entire planet’s population. After Ultimo crash-landing on Earth, the Mandarin sought to make the giant robot his minion. This didn’t work nor have the other efforts to control this monstrous thinking robot. Ultimo always breaks free of his reprogramming and starts indiscriminately destroying everything it can with its incredible strength and deadly heat vision. It takes all of Tony’s intelligence and firepower to take down Ultimo, and he fears when the metal giant will appear next to cause more devastation.
1) Living Laser
There are few Iron Man villains as deadly as Arthur Parks, aka Living Laser. Originally, Living Laser was a petty crook who used wrist-mounted laser guns to commit crimes and fight Tony. However, that all changed when his weapons overloaded and destroyed his body. Now living up to his name, Living Laser became a being of pure light. In this state, Living Laser has multiple new abilities, including flight, intangibility, solid hologram construction, illusion casting, invisibility, and more potent energy projection. With a body comprised of photons, Living Laser can travel at the speed of light, making him one of Tony’s fastest enemies. Living Laser’s evolution and immense power set make him one of Iron Man’s most underrated villains.
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Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films -
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
