Iron Man Suffers Intense Injury in Marvel's Dark Ages Tease

The Marvel universe is no stranger to Earth-shattering events, with multiple high-profile crossovers planned for the remainder of this year. There's the X-Men centric "X of Swords" event, the Venom "King in Black" plotline, and whatever's going on with Empyre, just to name a few. Marvel's Free Comic Book Day special, which finally hit stores this week as part of the "Free Comic Book Summer" program, teased another new plotline as well, called "Dark Ages". While it's still unclear exactly what that event will entail, the first sequence we've seen of it hints at a gnarly new status quo for one major Marvel hero. Spoilers for X-Men Free Comic Book Day 2020 below! Only look if you want to know!

The second story of the issue follows Tony Stark/Iron Man as he flies through New York City, which appears to be undergoing some sort of cataclysmic earthquake. While on the phone with Pepper Potts, who ends up getting trapped in an elevator, Tony's armor begins to short-circuit and shut down. Before it can shut down, Tony asks the suit to call Captain America, and tells him to assemble the Avengers. Tony's armor completely fails, crashing him directly through a plane, and seemingly ripping off his leg in the process.

The story ends with Pepper reuniting with Tony (clearly with one leg missing), just as he admits that everything has "gone dark".

The ongoing saga of Iron Man 2020 aside, Tony losing his leg is definitely a major new normal for him, and a harrowing cliffhanger to leave the "Dark Ages" tease on. If the event's name is any indication, it certainly seems like technology and electricity in New York will be shut down, which complicates a lot for such a technologically-involved superhero like Tony.

What do you think of Tony Stark losing his leg in the Free Comic Book Day special? Are you excited about the "Dark Ages" event? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!