Warning: contains spoilers for Iron Man #16!
Marvel’s Iron Man was destroyed by one of the worst insults one could possibly deliver to the Armored Avenger, courtesy of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. The two have had a friendly rivalry of sorts in the confines of comics for some time, and their shared intelligence means both hold themselves in high regard, if not necessarily each other. But in Iron Man #16, the perfect insult hides the perfect adversary.
Iron Man’s more terrestrial adventures have given way to space-based exploits and cosmic battles taking place across galaxies. His most recent enemy was Korvac, the legendary Marvel villain with an extreme God complex. Korvac’s considerable power is fought by a Power Cosmic-infused Iron Man, who defeats Korvac by sealing him in a pocket universe from where he can do no harm and pose no threat. Now carrying nigh-infinite power, Iron Man returns to New York to give an incalculably-valuable gift to the world.
Arriving in Washington Square Park, Iron Man meets his fellow Avengers – who are naturally wary toward an all-powerful Tony Stark inadvertently dooming the Earth with one poor decision based on ego. But Stark isn’t here to use his God Armor-infused power to impose order on the world or take over the Earth’s governments; he instead gifts his intelligence to every New York citizen. “You’re all Stark-level geniuses…you’re all as brilliant as I am. And so is every living person in the city.” Susan Storm asks Reed Richards if he feels any different, to which Mr. Fantastic responds “I…I actually think I just became dumber.”
A note on Mr. Fantastic, who is largely considered the smartest man on Earth – he is orders of magnitude smarter than Tony Stark, capable of building inventions such as the Forever Gate and other world-changing devices. While he’s often accused of maintaining a clinical way of thinking in lieu of considering the emotional cost of his creations, he’s not driven by ego like Stark. In this respect, Richards is actually smarter than Stark in more ways than one, and sees Stark’s gift for what it is: a short-sighted way to appease the masses and atone for his own sins.
Beyond creating his proprietary technology for his suits, there isn’t much Iron Man can create that Mr. Fantastic hasn’t already considered. This is a battle between geniuses, but Reed is ultimately the safer option when it comes to trusting one with the fate of the planet. Iron Man has such a difficult time reacting to Mr. Fantastic’s insult because it’s true in more than one way.
