Contains spoilers for Ultimate Invasion #4!The Tony Stark of Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe isn’t Iron Man, but another hero whose name suggests that Tony’s future lies in villainy: Iron Lad. The mantle of Iron Lad comes with a dark legacy, and Tony Stark is headed for disaster. Is he doomed to become this new world’s Kang the Conqueror? Or can he do what Tony Stark does best and put aside his own failures to come up with something clever and save the day?
In Ultimate Invasion #4 (written by Jonathan Hickman, penciled by Bryan Hitch, inked by Andrew Currie, colored by Alex Sinclair and lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna) it’s strongly hinted that the new Ultimate Tony Stark is destined to become this universe’s Kang the Conqueror, repeating the tragedy of Iron Lad.
While it’s never outright stated, the combination of Howard Stark’s reaction to seeing the dead future Kang’s face, Tony building identical armor to Kang’s—with a different coat of paint—and Tony taking the name Iron Lad all but confirm that Tony’s headed down the dark path towards becoming Kang.
Iron Lad’s Story Is a Tragedy (Until It Isn’t)
Introduced in 2005’s Young Avengers vol 1 #1 (written by Alan Heinberg, penciled by Jim Cheung, John Dell, colored by Justin Ponsor and lettered by Cory Petit), Iron Lad is the alias of the teenaged Kang the Conqueror, who flees to the past after discovering the villainous future that awaits him. The tragedy of Iron Lad is that he can’t outrun his future. He’s destined to become Kang…or is he? In Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic #10 (written by Anthony Oliveira, penciled and inked by Jethro Morales, colored by Yen Notro and lettered by Ariana Maher) Iron Lad dies, cementing himself as “not Kang.”
If One Iron Lad Can Reject Fate, Why Not Another?
Like the regular Iron Lad, Ultimate Tony’s future might not be set in stone quite yet. In Ultimate Invasion #4 the Maker, the Reed Richards of the original Ultimate Universe, tells Howard Stark to choose between supporting the Maker’s status quo or the future Kang’s equally-horrific insurrection, saying, “You can run and hide, or you can fight inevitability, the choice is yours Stark, though it matters very, very little.” Howard rejects the Maker’s dichotomy, choosing a “third choice” by turning the Maker’s tech on the villain and Kang both. It feels like this situation is just as applicable to Tony’s future. There’s always another way.
Rejecting inevitability is a recurring theme in Jonathan Hickman’s Marvel work. Hickman’s Avengers run is predicated on the idea that “everything dies.” This assumption is proven false in the conclusion of his and Esad Ribic’s Secret Wars (2015), which reveals that no, in fact, “everything lives.” Life finds a way. Nothing is inevitable. If the regular Iron Lad can find a way out of his dark future, then why can’t the new one? If there’s anything that would mark Ultimate Tony Stark as worthy of taking up the mantle of Iron Man, it’s fighting his own fate and rejecting the idea that anything’s impossible.
Ultimate Invasion #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
