Marvel Comics has featured countless storylines and adventures over the last 80 years. Once the existing characters ran their course, the comic books expanded their imagination to alternate realities. This also led to numerous versions of the same character. One of the most popular and beloved heroes, Iron Man, has various iterations from other universes. Some of them are similar to one another, while others are poles apart from the original hero. Thanks to the MCU movies that Tony Stark is now the face of the comic books for his heroism, wit and uber-cool personality. Watching him transform from an egoistic billionaire to a brave sweetheart has built a strong emotional attachment towards him. Now let us dive into the stories of Iron Men from other worlds. Here are 10 alternate versions of Iron Man in the comic books.
Iron Goblin
In the Spider-Island storyline, Tony Stark was infected with a virus and turned into Iron Goblin by the evil Spider Queen. When he went to infect the other Avengers as part of her army, Tony came in contact with the Goblin Formula. Even though the formula snapped him out of the evil Goblin form, its side-effects took a toll on his sanity like it did on Norman Osborne. But Tony chose to end his life than allow his madness to hurt others.
Iron Man Noir
Tony Stark was a more visionary, creative, and adventurous person in the Noir Universe. When Pepper Potts was abducted by the Nazis during one of her researches, Tony and James Rhodes flew to her rescue in their gigantic metallic suits. On reaching, he learnt that Baron Zemo was none other than his father Howard Stark who was brainwashed into a villain by the Nazis.
Iron Lantern
Long back when DC and Marvel tried a crossover, they merged two of their primary heroes, each. Iron Man was fused with Green Lantern to become Iron Latern aka Hal Stark. It nearly made him invincible with Iron Man’s cutting-edge tech suit and Green Lantern’s source of power, the Ring.
Victor Von Doom
Believe it or not, but even the sinister Doctor Doom aka Victor Von Doom carried Iron Man’s mantle. After Tony Stark was severely injured from fighting Captain Marvel at the Civil War II, Doctor Doom stepped in to redeem his past acts of evil. Not only did he fight for the world as Iron Man, but he also tried to fix the animosity with Stark.
Lord Iron
As the name suggests, Lord Iron was a Spanish man from the 17th Century. He featured in 1602: New World where David Banner captured him during the English/Spanish War and coerced him into designing weapons for them. But secretly, Lord Iron was building a huge armour for him to escape in.
Earth X Iron Man
The Tony Stark of this universe had a life similar to that of his counterpart from the mainstream Marvel universe. However, things changed on his earth after the Terrigen Mist was released into the atmosphere and started mutating the humans. Afraid of what the mist might do to him, Tony shunned himself from everyone and built the Iron Manor. Later he also designed and constructed the Iron Avengers for President Norman Osborn after the original Avengers were killed by Absorbing Man. This Iron Man died soon after the Celestials and Galactus attacked his Iron Manor, but his soul was transformed into the Angelic Host in Paradise by Captain Mar-Vell.
Age of X Iron Man
Age of X Iron Man aka Steele Corpse was blessed with powers but doomed with bad luck. Tony Stark’s body had merged into his Iron Man armour forever after he was infected with a virus by Madison Jefferies. He was technically a dead body that was digested and animated by his suit. This tragedy prompted Tony to call himself “Steel Corpse”.
Fantastic Four: The End Iron Man
Tony Stark managed to stay immortal, or keep his brilliant mind alive forever in the Fantastic Four: The End series. He transferred his consciousness into Iron armours. In other words, Tony Stark found a way to literally live like Iron Man for eternity.
Iron Hammer
No, it has got nothing to do with a literal iron hammer. But if you are thinking about Thor and Mjolnir for Iron Hammer, then you are absolutely right. Iron Man and Thor were combined into one powerful and formidable entity in the Infinity Wars. This incredible mashup, i.e., Sigurd Stark was the son of Howard Odin. In this version, the qualities of Asgardian abilities were combined with the cutting-edge tech of Iron Man.
MCU Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man aka Tony Stark is not a fictional character to us. We have been emotionally invested in this magnetic personality ever since he starred in 2008 Iron Man. MCU’s Tony is fuelled with brilliance, passion, and cool. He has contributed the most in almost every battle of the MCU by risking his life and by designing futuristic tech. Tony Stark is the face of the universe and the backbone of the Avengers team.
