Warning! Spoilers for Iron Man #23 by Marvel Comics
Marvel's Iron Man gets a Ten Rings upgrade, as new cover art from Alex Ross shows the hero's stealth armor getting a powerful new feature. In a new preview for Iron Man #23 by Marvel Comics, Tony Stark will be heading to a dangerous black market to ensure that The Mandarin's Ten Rings don't fall into the two hands. However, securing the rings won't be easy.
The Ten Rings of the Mandarin are one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel Universe, as the alien technology contains the souls of cosmic warriors and grants the wielder their powers. Each ring has a specific power, including energy manipulation and projection, flame and ice blasts, mental manipulation and illusions, electromagnetic attacks, and more. Famously, the Mandarin wears all Ten Rings together, first debuting as an Iron Man villain. However, in the comics, the Ten Rings have had a recent origin rewrite, moving away from its alien origin and them being actual rings, instead connecting them to Ta Lo, which is the same backstory given to the weapons in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Despite the retcon, Mandarin's Ten Rings are still out there in the Marvel Universe, as new Alex Ross artwork shows Iron Man wielding them while in his stealth armor.
Marvel Comics revealed its solicit for Iron Man #23, which will see Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes head to Macau to Source Control, one of the most dangerous black markets for illegal technology on Earth. Iron Man is attempting to acquire The Mandarin's Rings, as he will go up against criminal buyers to ensure the powerful weapons don't fall into the wrong hands. Check out the cover for Iron Man #23 by Alex Ross (seemingly an homage to Green Lantern #49 by Daryl Banks), which features Iron Man in his stealth armor as he secures the Ten Rings.
Acquiring the Mandarin's Rings will be a difficult task for Iron Man, as he will take on the Cobalt Man, who is willing to kill Tony Stark if needed to get the weapons for himself. Check out the solicit for Iron Man #23 below.
- IRON MAN #23
- CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL (W)
- ANGEL UNZUETA (A)
- Cover by ALEX ROSS
- BEYOND AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
- VARIANT COVER BY FRANCIS MANAPUL
- Operating in stealth mode with Jim Rhodes, Iron Man has landed in Macau and immersed himself in SOURCE CONTROL — the worst black market of stolen and illegal technology — all in order to organize a backroom buy of THE MANDARIN’S RINGS. It’s going to require Tony Stark-level capital and strategy, but SPYMASTER may have a different buyer — and a wicked double cross — at the ready in order to pull the rug out from under Iron Man’s boots. It seems someone else is willing to pay top dollar for those rings and is ready to pull them out of Iron Man’s dead hands if they have to… THE COBALT MAN.
With the Ten Rings becoming bigger as they have in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it remains to be seen whether the Mandarin Rings Iron Man is after is the same thing or the original alien versions that may still exist. Regardless, the epic Alex Ross cover art for Iron Man #23 with the hero in his stealth armor, wielding Mandarin's Ten Rings, makes for an exciting adventure ahead for Tony Stark. Iron Man #23 by Marvel Comics comes to comic book stores and online retailers in August.