Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Mech Strike: Monster Hunters #2!
Marvel’s Iron Man is often the victim of his own selfish tendencies and his narcissistic personality, but the Armored Avenger proved his ego can actually save the Avengers– in very rare cases. Tony Stark may be one of the founding members of the Avengers with the capital necessary to fund the team and their many battles against crime and world-ending threats, but even he has difficulty combating his own ego. But in Avengers Mech Strike: Monster Hunters #2, Stark uses his own inflated sense of self to ward off the monstrous villain of the series: Doctor Doom.
The Avengers: Mech Strike event of 2021 was a self-contained series of book revolving around the team’s acquisition and use of powerful new armor. Each suit was designed by Tony himself with the members of the Avengers in mind. The team fought off a threat that broke time itself: Kang the Conqueror and his army fought the mechanized team and even killed Thanos and Black Panther, though the latter eventually came back to life as the avatar of Eternity. With Kang defeated, the team put the mech suits in storage – but the time has come to use them again.
In Avengers Mech Strike: Monster Hunters #2, written by Christos Cage with art by Paco Diaz, the Avengers encounter Doctor Doom, who obtained a monstrous form with the Eye of the Kraken. Doctor Strange uses the other Eye to transform the Avengers’ mechs into even more powerful versions of themselves, but the evil Eye has corrupted their minds. Tony is the last one to snap out of it thanks to the support of the Wasp…by saying “You like me! You really like me!” The Wasp can only respond with “I knew no ancient monster could be stronger than you ego.”
The Wasp and Iron Man used to be romantically involved, but like so many of Tony’s past partners, she couldn’t stand his ego and lifestyle and left him. In this instance, Tony’s stubbornness is seen as a positive attribute: it gives him the strength needed to resist the Eye of the Kraken and regain control over his armor and his own mind. It’s important to note that while T’Challa resisted the Eye by thinking of Wakanda and Janet by thinking of her inner strength that allowed her to rise above her past…Tony Stark resisted evil by thinking of himself.
In the vast majority of modern-day Iron Man stories, Tony Stark is his own worst enemy. One need only read Civil War, Civil War II, Superior Iron Man, Avengers: Tech-On and the famous Demon in a Bottle stories to know he pushes himself far too much, relies on external stimulus to dull the pain of his childhood trauma, and believes his methods are the only correct courses of action. But in this (admittedly brief) instance, Iron Man overcame great evil through the power of his own greater ego.