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

 

   

 

Black Widow in the MC2

 

After too many delays we’ll finally see the release of the Black Widow movie. For those of you keeping track, you’ll know I’ve previously covered Natasha Romanoff’s five fellow MCU founding Avengers, but until now I’ve held off on covering Black Widow.

 

 

As I briefly touched upon in a past post, Natasha Romanoff as the Black Widow is seen in Spider-Girl #60 on both the issue’s cover and within the thoughts of May ‘Mayday’ Parker as the latter reflects on her place amongst the other superheroines who came before her. Natasha is not seen among the gathered Avengers who travelled to an alternate earth for the original team’s final mission. So at least we can likely rule out her dying on the mission. Either way, no specifics are given, and as such her status remains unknown.

 

The Black Widow doesn’t make a physical appearance in the MC2 outside her ‘Zombie’ counterpart’s decaying visage in Avengers Next #1. There, stolen blood and tissue samples of Avengers members past and present are used by the Asgardian Sylene to create ‘magical clones.’ These shambling creations are sent against the current generation of Avengers. Requiring constant magical energy and attention to maintain, the duplicate Black Widow crumbles to dust alongside the other doppelgängers when Sylene’s focus is broken. It’s unknown at what point Natasha provided a sample of her blood and tissue to the Avengers.

 

To add a little context, let’s take a look at the most likely point at which the MC2 Black Widow would have diverged from her Main Marvel Universe counterpart. As I’ve covered in prior posts, the MC2 Avengers history seemingly splits off from the Main Marvel Universe prior to the events seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #1. Unlike many of her teammates, Natasha did not seemingly sacrifice herself during the Onslaught event and wind up as Heroes Reborn in a pocket dimension created by a young Franklin Richards.

 

But as Natasha doesn’t play a significant role in these aforementioned events, it seems likely we can include her Main Marvel Universe counterpart’s history up until a little after the Avengers team returns in Avengers (vol. 3) #1-4. The reason I’m suggesting this is two-fold. First, there aren’t a huge number of major appearances during this period of time for Natasha, mainly some Daredevil issues and solo adventures in Shadows & Light and Journey Into Mystery. Second, when Natasha is next back in the spotlight under the Marvel Knights imprint’s Black Widow mini-series, there is a very clear shift in tone and we start to see retcons surrounding her origin and past. Thus, it makes a lot of sense to propose this as the point at which the MC2’s Black Widow diverges from the Main Marvel Universe.

 

On the subject of retcons to Natasha’s origins, an oft-cited reason for their necessity is Natasha’s appearance as a child during World War II with Wolverine and Captain America (Uncanny X-Men #268). Even when this story was published in 1990 it presented a continuity problem: why did Natasha appear so young in the present-day if she was around as a child back then? Well, the truth is that this was not the first time, with Daredevil #88 explicitly depicting Natasha as child in Russia during World War II far earlier.

 

While there were several stories that mentioned Natasha’s training as a spy for Soviet Russia dating back to her earliest appearances, the Marvel Knights Black Widow mini-series' are usually credited with putting a name to the concept (the Red Room’s Black Widow Ops Program) as well as greatly expanding and building upon the idea with further retcons, such as the implication Natasha was actually an enhanced human and as such had a better immune system, healed faster and didn’t age as fast. ‘But this all takes place after the MC2 divergence, why are you mentioning all this?’ I hear you say. Let me try and explain.

Long-time readers know I struggled with the World War II origins of Peggy Carter and the impact on Sharon Carter and the rest of the family. I’m happy to say, I’ve not had as many issues reconciling Black Widow’s appearance in WWII and her surprising longevity. Thanks to this throwaway exchange between Natasha and Nick Fury in Marvel Comics Presents #130 published in 1993, long before the aforementioned divergence or later retcons:

Nick Fury: ‘Y’know how many guys are runnin’ ‘round with spandex on their butts and secret formulas in their guts?’

Natasha: ‘Like Infinity Formulas?’

Nick Fury: ‘Or Super Soldier Serums?’

Natasha: ‘Touché’

 

So, while this isn’t explicit, the fact that Natasha directly mentions the ‘secret formula’ that keeps Fury youthful and the fact Fury seems to be responding in kind regarding Natasha certainly makes it seem like the Black Widow has some kind of Super Soldier Serum flowing through her veins. There you have it, a readily available explanation for her longevity and abilities tucked away in an obscure issue without having to reach further forward into a mess of further future retcons and their unfortunate implications.

 

Where ever Natasha Romanoff is in the MC2, I hope she’s happy. I’m personally of the belief she’s alive and well, living off the grid someplace, laying low and doing what she does best.

 

 

Until I uncover more hidden lore for my spymasters, I remain

frogoat

 

 

 

 

History of the MC2: Heroes Reborn/Heroes Return

Usually I use the History of the MC2 to chronicle the past events of specific individuals and teams. This time, I'll be making a far more vague entry just to outline a few things I've been considering for some time.

Onslaught was a massive crossover event published in 1996 that saw the Avengers, Fantastic Four and even Doctor Doom apparently perish saving the world from the psychic entity known as Onslaught. It's revealed that Franklin Richards used his amazing abilities to create a pocket dimension to save his parents and all the other heroes. The reborn heroes would awaken in this pocket dimension to live out new lives, unaware of their pasts. This event was called Heroes Reborn.


In this new world, the Fantastic Four and Avengers came about under different circumstances, there doesn't appear to be any mutants, there's apparently two Thor's (one created by Franklin and the real Odinson) and iconic events play out differently. These were all published as the second volume of each of the titles; Fantastic Four Vol. 2 #1-12, Avengers Vol. 2 #1-12, Iron Man Vol. 2 #1-12 and Captain America Vol. 2 #1-12. Long story short, the heroes were all eventually returned to the Main Marvel Universe and things went back to some semblance of normality with Heroes Return. The Fantastic Four and Avengers reformed in their respective third volumes and that's where I want to point out a few things relating to the MC2.

Despite the common belief that the MC2 uniformly branches off from the Main Marvel Universe around the time the Spider-Man titles published the Gathering of Five storyline in 1998, the truth is far more complex and far less clear. For example, I've mentioned the Pym Twins once or twice but you'll notice I left out any mention of their birth in the History of the MC2: The Avengers because- given there is supposedly only a 15 year gap between the Main Marvel Universe and the MC2- they shouldn't be adults. Yet, they appear to be full grown adults in A-Next and subsequent appearances.


So, what's my point? Unlike comics published in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, the 90's aren't as clear cut. The heroes of MC2's history is almost entirely identical to that of their Main Marvel Universe counterparts when it comes to comics published from the 60's to the 80's but the 90's are where we start to see changes. So the MC2's Janet and Hank Pym must have conceived Hope and Henry Pym Jr while their Main Marvel Universe counterparts were experiencing the events published during the early 90's. Hopefully that didn't just confuse everyone. Additionally, despite these changes, events must have continued to unfold for MC2 Janet and Hank (and indeed the whole Avengers team) in very much the same way as they did in the Main Marvel Universe. In fact, the same could also be said assumed for the Fantastic Four of the MC2 as well. Why?

This seemingly throwaway line from Franklin Richards during a flashback in Fantastic Five (Vol. 1) #4 goes a long way toward confirming that the events of Onslaught, Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return occurred in the MC2 in some way, shape or form. Ergo, we can deduce that most of the events leading up to that point in the MC2 unfolded parallel to the Fantastic Four of the Main Marvel Universe. We can stretch this to other similar references in A-Next #7, which shows flashbacks to the original Avengers final mission in the MC2. As the team's roster and costumes are very similar to those of the Main Marvel Universe Avengers post-Heroes Return, we can reasonably assume both share similar histories up to that point, with events unfolding vastly differently afterwards.


Much as I'd like to continue pulling at this thread of thought, I think it best to leave things there for now. Needless to say, if you take away anything from this, it's that the 90's (and the very early 2000's) are up in the air and not as set in stone as the rest of the MC2 characters shared history with the Main Marvel Universe. Therein lies the fun of speculating.

Until I find another reason to ramble on about what I'm sure no one else cares about, I remain

frogoat