Marvel's Iron Man and Ironheart are officially coming to blows - just after seemingly making peace with one another - and the company hints at the beginnings of yet another Civil War. Tony Stark and Riri Williams are geniuses with incredible skill and experience when it comes to being a superhero, and both are also headstrong, stubborn, and rarely take "no" for an answer. The recent Marvel solicitations for the upcoming Invincible Iron Man #2 reveal the characters, while ostensibly on the same side, are not afraid to fight for what they believe.
In current comics continuity, an uneasy peace exists between Tony and Riri after the two met during the aftermath of the Source Control Saga. Tony Stark has all but exhausted his fortune after buying weapons from the mysterious Source Control (a weapons dealer with access to exotic armaments of mass destruction), and the only weapons left to acquire are the Ten Rings of the Mandarin. Riri, however, obtained the Rings before Tony, and refuses to hand them over - to either the Avengers or to Tony Stark.
Tony eventually acquiesces to Ironheart's demands and allows her to leave with the Rings - but this uneasy peace won't last for long. In Marvel's solicitations for the upcoming Invincible Iron Man #2, the company hints that Riri Williams hasn't been entirely truthful to the Armored Avenger, even when an assassin attempts to kill him. "It'll be up to Iron Man and Ironheart to stop him...but what secret is Riri Williams harboring from Tony? And will this change their relationship forever?" The cover of the issue depicts both armored superheroes landing punches while using their suits to fly through an explosion.
Iron Man and Ironheart Finally Fight
Riri Williams is a relatively new character in the Marvel Universe, only debuting in 2016, but she has already made a remarkable impact in a relatively short amount of time. She was involved in the Secret Empire storyline, was a member of Ms. Marvel's Champions team of superheroes, and was an essential part of Iron Man's new arc written by writer Christopher Cantwell. Beyond that, unfortunately, she has never played a crucial role in Marvel's recent crossover event series (she was not, for example, featured in the Judgment Day event).
Pitting Iron Man and Ironheart against each other will allow Marvel to finally force two headstrong superheroes to face their fatal flaws. Riri Williams is brilliant but young and inexperienced when it comes to being a superhero, whereas Tony Stark is a veteran Avenger but has let success go to his head. The battle between Iron Man and Ironheart is sure to bring a new dimension to both characters, especially since the two once had a teacher-student dynamic (and Iron Man loathes being upstaged by anyone, even his protege).