Why isn't Iron Man dead in the MC2?!

 

Is the title of this post clickbait-y? Not as much as you might think! So, let me try to explain why Iron Man isn’t dead in the MC2. Trust me, this will make sense by the end…well, sort of. Anyway, let us make a start!

 

As I have mentioned many times before, the MC2 shares the published history of the Main Marvel Universe up until the mid-to-late 1990’s after which events diverge in big ways. So, where was Tony Stark aka Iron Man at that point in the Main Marvel Universe, then? Short answer: dead. The long answer is a bit more complicated…

 

To lend some context, we must discuss a very poorly regarded Avengers crossover event story spanning from 1995 to 1996 known as The Crossing. Apparently having been manipulated by Kang the Conqueror, Tony Stark turned traitor and killed or nearly killed various people associated with the Avengers. The Avengers journeyed to the past to recruit the 19-year-old Tony Stark of Earth-96020, in hopes of countering Kang’s plan with a version of Stark free of the villain’s influence (Avengers: Timeslide).

 

The story comes to a head when the Avengers and their allies track the Main Marvel Universe (or Earth-616 for us older fans) Tony Stark to his Arctic bunker and his younger Earth-96020 counterpart (suited up in a prototype Iron Man armour) was nearly killed in the confrontation. Remorseful, the older Tony sacrifices himself to save the day, apparently thwarting Kang’s plan and as his final act provides Hank Pym with the necessary schematics to save the younger Stark. With that, technically, Tony Stark aka Iron Man of Earth-616 was dead (Avengers #395).

 

After this, the teenaged Tony Stark of Earth-96020 was saved with the implementation of a chest plate and assumed the mantle of Iron Man, including joining the Avengers. It was alongside the Avengers and Fantastic Four that this young Tony would soon after sacrifice himself to save the world from the threat of Onslaught (Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1).

 

Unbeknownst to the world at large, the heroes were saved by the subconscious efforts of a grieving Franklin Richards who created an entire pocket universe for them to live new lives in. Here, Tony Stark was again an adult, albeit with memories of living a different life (Iron Man vol. 2 #1-#13). When the truth of their situation was revealed, the ‘refugee’ heroes were returned to Earth-616, including the adult Stark (Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-#4).

 

You may be wondering which Tony Stark it is that returned from the pocket universe, and if so, you would not be alone. As I have mentioned in other posts, the Earth-616 Avengers history apparently diverges from that of the MC2’s Earth-982 Avengers prior to Avengers vol. 3 #1, most likely after the aforementioned Heroes Reborn: The Return #4. That said, many elements of this era are suggested to have occurred, and this next example appears to be one of them.

 Avengers vol. 3 Annual 2001 features a back-up story mostly used to clear up a lot of continuity issues and questions. Here we learn that when the adult Tony Stark returned from the pocket dimension, he remembered everything, ‘three lives, three childhoods.’ While this Tony seemed to retain more memories than others who returned, these began to fade. Investigating his own grave, Stark found the body gone and the grave itself vaporized by the same energy which had lingering traces with his own system. As best the Avengers could determine, Franklin Richards had ‘restored the heroes as he remembered them,’ meaning both the murderously manipulated Iron Man and the young Tony who replaced him are apparently in essence both dead now. Iron Man was also formally cleared of the murders during The Crossing as he was under the influence of Kang at the time.

 

And just to make it even more complicated, most of the events of The Crossing are revealed to have all been part of an elaborate scheme of Immortus disguised as his counterpart, Kang the Conqueror, to halt the Avengers continued forays into space and keep them earthbound, thereby preventing an unwanted future (Avengers Forever #8). There is far more to this story, but it is not relevant to today’s post. However, as an aside, some of the MC2 Avengers do end up involved in Avengers Forever’s ‘Destiny War’ (Avengers Forever #11-#12).

 

In summation, Iron Man aka Tony Stark of the Main Marvel Universe (Earth-616) died, was replaced by a younger counterpart from the alternate reality Earth-96020 who soon after also apparently died but was actually saved by the subconscious efforts of the powerful mutant Franklin Richards who sent him and various other heroes to a pocket dimension, in the process transforming the young Tony Stark into a new adult version with newly created memories. Either upon creating the pocket dimension or when the heroes returned the original Earth-616 Tony Stark’s body was also combined with the others and for some time retained all three sets of memories. Simple, right? The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 5 attempts to clarify this situation in the profiles for Tony Stark (Earth-616) and Tony Stark (Earth-96020):

 

“Upon returning, the still adult Tony found he had the collective memories and experiences of the original Tony Stark merged with those of the Earth-96020 Tony and the person he had been on Counter-Earth.”

 

“When Franklin Richards recreated these fallen heroes on the “Heroes Reborn” pocket-world, he recreated Tony Stark as he knew him – an adult tycoon, untouched by Immortus’ influence. When Franklin returned the heroes back to Earth, he restored Tony Stark as an adult with the combined memories of Earth-616’s Tony Stark, the teenage Tony from Earth-96020, and the Tony Stark from his own Counter-Earth. As time passed. Tony memories of his counterparts’ lives faded and merged into his own memories, leaving him with memories free of Immortus’ meddling. The teenage Tony Stark no longer exists in Reality-616 following restoration of Earth-616’s Tony Stark.”

 

 

So… I guess technically the teen Tony was erased or merged with his older counterpart? Anyway, that is the official story and Marvel Comics editorial has rolled with it ever since. Writer Kurt Busiek, responsible for launching the third volume of the Avengers title and Avengers Forever among others, had announced plans to publish a title called ‘Look Back in Armor’ that would explain the situation in detail. However, this never materialized and instead Busiek addressed the issue in the aforementioned Avengers Vol.3 Annual 2001 back-up story.

 

With all that said, hopefully I have made it (somewhat) clear(er) why Iron Man isn’t dead in the MC2. This appears to be another seemingly minor piece of Main Marvel Universe lore that applies to the MC2 post-branching off into its own path. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Until I die, get replaced by an alternate reality teen version of myself, then die again only to be aged into an adult and live out another life in a pocket reality before being returned to my predecessor’s original state, I remain

 

frogoat