MC2 Legacy: Did Mainframe Influence the MCU Iron Man?

 

This will hopefully be the first instalment in a new occasional series touching on the various instances of an MC2 character, concept or…whatever that is later used elsewhere. Basically, a record of the many times the MC2 has influenced the comic’s Main Marvel Universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a variety of animated series, etc.  

Many years ago, I wrote about the MC2’s Mainframe being loosely adapted in the Marvel animated series Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. which led to a follow up post and a short video. The episode, ‘Wheels of Fury’, debuted on the 29^th of March 2015 and concludes with the Mainframe Artificial Intelligence taking on a familiar yellow and black armoured form resembling his MC2 design.

 

But this wasn’t the first time we’d seen Iron Man himself in a yellow and black armoured suit. The Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode ‘Fun with Lasers’ which first aired on the 4^th of September 2009 debut’s the teenage Tony Stark’s ‘Space Armor’ when he uses it to reach a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. Orbital Station.

 

Some might argue that this is a reference to the ‘Iron Man Armor Model 42’ which was the first Iron Man Armor to feature the yellow and black colour scheme. However, the Model 42 didn’t debut until years later with Iron Man (Vol. 5) #1 in November 2012.

 

One of the dozens of Iron Man Armors seen in the climax of the 2013 Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Iron Man 3, the Mark 20 or Mark XX also known by the nickname ‘Python’ is believed to be inspired by the above-mentioned Model 42. Additionally, it also appears in the official Iron Man 3 mobile tie-in video game from Gameloft, thus making the leap to yet another medium.

 

Thus, I’d argue they are all in some way originally inspired by Ron Frenz and Rich Yanizeski’s frankly classic Mainframe designs which debuted all the way back in A-Next #1 from 1998. Here’s an excerpt of what co-creator and artist extraordinaire Ron Frenz had to say about the design of Mainframe on episode 744 of Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigan’s podcast:

 

‘We went through a couple of different designs, the early designs still had red and yellow in them and everything. I’ll be perfectly honest with you, what occurred to me about what I like about black and gold is that I’m from Pittsburgh and that’s the colour of all of our sports teams.’

 

Until the MC2 stops being the secret inspiration for the ‘House of Ideas’, I remain

 

frogoat

Addendums and Errata (May 2024)

 To err is human and so, despite rampant rumours I’m robotic, I can prove my humanity every now and then! Today will be a collection of quick corrections or elaborations on previous posts, in no particular order.

 

Rhino in the MC2

 

This first correction is actually really embarrassing. Growing up I pawed over my copy of 2003’s Marvel Encyclopedia Vol. 4: Spider-Man so much many of the pages have come out. So, I have no excuse for misattributed the reveal of the Rhino’s real name of Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich to The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Hulk 2004! This name was likely conceived by members of the www.spiderfan.org who contributed profiles, with my best guess being Mike Fichera who worked on the Rhino’s profile for that website and gets a mention in the ‘thanks’ for the Encyclopedia.

 

Aunt May in the MC2

 

Another slightly humiliating error on my part as it’s another I should have caught relatively easily. I spent the entirety of my post about Aunt May trying to differentiate between the various ‘May’s’ present in some stories when I could have simply called Peter’s aunt by her full first name ‘Maybelle,’ which we learned back in 1997 in Amazing Spider-Man #-1 written by none other than MC2 co-creator Tom Defalco himself!

 

Hank Pym in the MC2

 

In Hank Pym’s profile post I stated he was first referenced and seen in flashback in A-Next #2. While he does make his first on-panel appearance in A-Next #2, he’s mentioned first briefly in A-Next #1 in an exchange between Scott and Cassie Lang.

 

As I re-visit previous posts or discover new information, I’ll likely put together another ‘Oops’ post. Let me know if you have come across any mistakes I’ve made!

 

Until I attain my perfect form after absorbing two sibling cyborgs, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Jubilee in the MC2

 

I’ve been rewatching X-Men: The Animated Series in preparation for the revival and continuation series X-Men ’97 and with that in mind, I thought now was the perfect opportunity to cover both shows’ protagonist and audience surrogate as she appears in the MC2. This is Jubilee in the MC2.

 

In the Main Marvel Universe Jubilee made her debut in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #244. Her first name, Jubilation, was apparently revealed in the pages of X-Men Annual #13 with her surname, Lee, first given in X-Men Annual #14. As for her first appearance in the MC2, Jubilee showed up in a brief cameo within What If #105 alongside other members of the Avengers including the Vision, Jolt, J2, Speedball and Thunderstrike.

 

Jumping back in time ever so slightly, A-Next #1 delivers the new Avengers team’s origin which involved Kevin Masterson transformation into the new Thunderstrike as a result of the machination of Loki. During this adventure, we learn Jubilee is too busy leading the X-People to join the team as a full-time member but notes she should reach out to J2.

 

After a tease of this in the final panels of J2 #1, we see this play out in the next issue where a visiting Zane Yama aka J2 fights to liberate the mind-controlled X-People including team leader Jubilee from the thrall of the villainous villainess Enthralla (J2 #2).

 

Jubilee is called upon by Mainframe to evaluate the Avengers newest recruits, American Dream, Freebooter, Bluestreak and Crimson Curse. Unfortunately, this all comes as a shocking surprise to the other members of the team (A-Next #4).

 

When Cyclops stops by to test the Uncanny X-People, they are aided by J2 who, Jubilee notes, helped the team improve their previous time, increasing by a single second for a total of five measly seconds (J2 #7).

 

Next, Jubilee leads her X-People against Rina Logan aka Wild Thing in an initiation trial for probationary membership on the team.  Rina rejects this offer, declaring that she was only taking the test as favour for her father, Wolverine (J2 #11).

 

In Wild Thing #3 we learn that Mr Woodhill, the social studies teacher at Upper Saddle River High was involved in a crash ten years prior, spending a year in the hospital as a result. While there Woodhill was transformed into a Sleeper Sentinel, including suppression implants to ensure he remained unaware he was a cyborg. Jubilee explains that the X-Men had years ago attempted to find all the Sleeper Sentinels but some -such as Mr Woodhill- had gone undetected. Using a program devised by Dr McCoy and Forge, the Sleeper Sentinels would have their Sentinel activation nullified, allowing them to continue believing they were ordinary humans (Wild Thing #3).

 

In Spider-Girl #32, we catch a tantalising glimpse of the largely unseen interim Avengers team who attempted to fill the void left after many of the original Avengers perished on their final mission. Jubilee was a member of this line-up alongside Nova, the Steel Spider, Jolt and Speedball. I have to point out the subtle changes Jubilee makes to the costume she wears depending on which team she’s representing at any given time.

 

Jubilee and her X-People are not seen again until a large assembly of the MC2’s super heroes gather at Avengers Headquarters in preparation for battle with Seth the Serpent God of Death. Despite this, the assembled heroes end up trapped within an impenetrable barrier until Spider-Girl weakens Seth enough to free them. Notably, Jubilee is seen alongside former Avengers teammate Nova (Spider-Girl #58).

 

When May ‘Mayday’ Parker’s classmate is outed as a mutant to all of Midtown High, Nancy's locker is vandalised and graffitied with anti-mutant messages. At home, Nancy's parents argue over their daughter’s situation and Nancy's siblings are ostracised at school. Later while attempting to get some air, Nancy is accosted by several hooded figures (Spider-Girl #67).

 

The group attacking Nancy Lu are revealed to be fellow students from Midtown High. When The Buzz (aka JJ) and Spider-Girl intervene, Nancy reveals she's more afraid of hurting others due to a lack of control of her abilities than being hurt herself. After being approached by Jubilee, who Nancy had met previously when she attempted to recruit her to the X-People (events referenced in Spider-Girl #23), Nancy makes the decision to go with the X-People to better master her powers (Spider-Girl #67).

 

When various superheroes active and retired start disappearing, Stinger of the Avengers contacts Jubilee to ask if the X-People have any suspects. However, believing the attacks may be focused on mutants due to Wolverine and Cyclops’ abductions, Jubilee informers her they have decided to continue their investigations without outside assistance (Last Hero Standing #2).

 

Despite this, Jubilee still reports the return of Wolverine and Cyclops to Stinger shortly afterwards, even with the apparent disappearance of Wild Thing (Last Hero Standing #3).

 

The next time we see Jubilee is during the events of the Last Planet Standing mini-series when Galactus is finalizing his final solution which will ultimately destroy the entire universe. Jubilee is briefly seen along with her X-People among many other heroes (Last Hero Standing #4-#5).

 

Jubilee and the X-People again joins a large assembly of super heroes who show up to help Spider-Girl when she is captured by the Hobgoblin aka Roderick Kingsley (Amazing Spider-Girl #15).

 

Continuing the returning divide between the rest of humanity and mutants, with Magneta’s Sisterhood of Mutants attempting to recruit confused Midtown High student Sara Hingle, Jubilee and the X-People attempt to locate her and in the process cut out Spider-Girl (Amazing Spider-Girl #23).

 

Having been pushed into attacking the anti-mutant Humanity First organisation, Sara finds herself in battle with Jubilee’s entire X-People team. With Jubilee and the rest of her team side-lined, trainee member Nancy Lu aka Push faces Hingle (now calling herself Nucleus) alone until aided by Spider-Girl (Amazing Spider-Girl #24). After Magneta uses Nucleus as a human bomb, many of the X-People are taken to hospital with the rest ensuring the surviving Sara is taken to a secure facility (Amazing Spider-Girl #25).

 

Finally, Jubilee appears in flashback story set between the pages of A-Next #1 while the various heroes are celebrating on Asgard. Feeling humiliated in front of Loki, Tyrus the Terrible leads a group of trolls in ambushing Thunderstrike and J2 for a rematch. But after a brief battle, the trolls flee when confronted by Jubilee and the rest of the assembled soon-to-be Avengers  alongside Thor (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).

 

That’s it for now, but with the last appearance it should be clear there’s always room for more appearances. I’ve often said I want a series to focus on the mutants of the MC2, particularly the X-People and a major reason is because I love seeing Jubilee as the leader of her own team. He started as the audience surrogate youthful character so this feels like she has reached her full potential.

 

Until I get to say ‘To me, my X-People’, I remain

 

frogoat