As one of the world’s foremost heroes, Iron Man has taken on some of the gravest threats in Marvel Comics history. And when it comes to world-ending threats, there are few forces that can hold a candle to Galactus. But thanks to Iron Man’s own actions, one dangerous force got a chance to prove itself every bit the threat that the Devourer of Worlds represents - at a tragic cost.
Of all the villains Iron Man has faced, few compare to the Extinction Entity. Almost a hybrid between Galactus and the Superman villain Brainiac, the Entity was the threat that Iron Man 2020 - Tony Stark’s adoptive brother Arno - was destined to face. And unfortunately, that same Entity was born from Arno’s insecurities.
Iron Man 2020 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Pete Woods introduces readers to the Extinction Entity. An alien force determined to subsume all organic and technological life on Earth, the Entity’s arrival is supposedly the threat Arno Stark was genetically engineered and destined to combat - so much so that he’s already manipulated his brother Iron Man and taken over his life and company. The threat is even so great that Iron Man 2020 plans to take over all human and robotic life himself before the Entity ever gets the chance, as only he can rally the people of Earth against their alien foe.
Iron Man's Extinction Entity Arrives
But while the threat is very real to Arno, it’s revealed that Arno himself is the threat to the rest of the world as the Extinction Entity is simply a delusion fueled by the unknown resurgence of the congenital disease that has plagued him all his life. Ultimately, the only way for Tony Stark to prevent disaster is to trap his brother within a virtual reality in which he saves the day. And while the threat may be aborted, the experience changes Iron Man in ways he’s still grappling with.
It may not be a naturally occurring force, but the Extinction Entity is still a grave threat to the world if only for the actions that its imagined existence causes Arno Stark to take. After all, to beat the Entity, the Iron Man of 2020 is more than willing to dominate all sentient life on Earth, human or A.I., in the hopes of rallying the people. This imagined villain is so terrible, that the Iron Man who imagines him is more than willing to become a villain to defeat him - and he nearly does.
Tony Stark Is His Brother's Keeper
There are quite a few Marvel Comics villains with deep psychological ties to the heroes they face. But while Sabretooth may physically represent Wolverine’s dark impulses, he didn’t spring fully formed from the mind of his foe like the Extinction Entity springs from Arno Stark’s Iron Man. In his quest to prove himself a hero, Arno becomes all he's fought against, and this tragic twist hurts Iron Man more than any alien entity ever could.
All Arno Stark wanted was to be the best Iron Man that he could, whatever the cost. Unfortunately for Tony Stark and the rest of the Marvel Universe, that cost was simply too high. When it comes to this psychosomatic Galactus, Marvel Comics’ Iron Man really is his brother’s keeper.