Warning! This article contains spoilers for Iron Man #25The legacy of Tony Stark in the MCU has stretched across every corner of the established universe as his ultimate sacrifice saved the lives of trillions–and now Marvel Comics is flipping that legacy completely.
In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark is able to steal the Infinity Stones off Thanos’ gauntlet and embed them within his nanotech armor. Then, Iron Man uses the power of the Stones to erase Thanos and his army from existence. Unfortunately, the raw power emitted by the Infinity Stones was too much for Tony’s mortal body to handle, and he died as a result of using them. In the aftermath of Tony’s death, the whole world came together in his honor. Murals were painted, documentaries were made, and plaques commemorating Tony’s heroism were put in places of significance–all in honor of the man who sacrificed his life to save the universe.
In Iron Man #25 by Christopher Cantwell and Angel Unzueta, the entirety of New York City is celebrating the newly-created Iron Man Day. This holiday came to pass after Tony Stark survived his coma. Since the people of New York thought he might die, Iron Man Day became their way of celebrating the fact that he didn’t while also recognizing all the heroic things he’s done in the past. The thing is, though, many people don’t agree with Iron Man Day, and Iron Man himself doesn’t think he deserves it.
Iron Man is a Fraud in Marvel Comics, and Tony Stark Knows It
This issue shows people protesting Iron Man Day as they think a billionaire shouldn’t be celebrated with so many other problems plaguing the world. Unlike in the MCU, where everyone could agree that Iron Man was the greatest hero who ever lived, this comic shows that that isn’t the case–including within the mind of Iron Man himself as Stark knows that this whole holiday is based on a lie. Tony pretended to be in a coma in order to successfully pull off his last mission, one where he bought the world’s deadliest weapons and technology. Not only was Stark never in any danger, but he used that lie to purchase world-ending weaponry–something that many would find alarming given his lack of oversight with those weapons, and definitely not worthy of a city-wide holiday.
Tony Stark is a symbol of heroism in the MCU, one that isn’t surrounded by controversy, as it would be pretty hard to argue that someone who gave their life to save the universe isn’t a hero, no matter their past shortcomings. In the comics, however, it is way more complex as Tony Stark’s day of recognition is based on a lie that holds within it a complicated secret. Not only that, but Tony Stark is alive to see his own holiday while the MCU version only received that level of recognition because he died. Based on these differences, it seems clear that Marvel Comics has completely flipped Tony Stark’s MCU legacy.
Iron Man #25 by Marvel Comics is available now.